UNIVERSTYOFCALFORN       SAN  DIEGO 


31822015262116 


JAN  D«EGO 


ERSITY  OF  CALIFORN  A.  SAN   EGO 


•••••^•••••1 

Central  University  Library 

University  of  California,  San  Diego 
Please  Note:  This  item  is  subject  to  recall. 

Date  Due 
DEC  1  7 1993  " 

2  7  U93 


Cl  39  (7/93) 


UCSD  Lt. 


THE    PROBLEM   OF 
AMERICANIZATION 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   •    BOSTON    •    CHICAGO  •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 

TORONTO 


THE  PROBLEM 


OF 


AMERICANIZATION 

BY 
PETER  ROBERTS,  PH.D. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

1920 

All  right*  renewed 


COPYBIGHT,   1920, 

BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  December,  1910. 


Nortoooft 

J.  8.  Cashing  Co.  —  Berwick  <fc  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  word  Americanization  has  become  a  household 
term  —  among  the  native-born  a  synonym  of  anxiety, 
dread,  or  duty,  among  the  foreign-born  one  of  misgiving, 
suspicion,  or  hope.  There  are  more  than  five  million 
aliens  in  the  United  States,  ninety-five  per  cent  of  whom 
are  kindly  disposed  to  America.  The  remaining  five  per 
cent  comprise  the  radicals,  whose  souls  are  lashed  by 
breezes  of  doctrines,  emanating  from  continental  Europe, 
writhing  in  the  hand  of  doctrinaires  who  treat  a  starv- 
ing and  bankrupt  patient.  The  radicals  have  a  well- 
organized  speaker's  bureau,  a  many-tongued  press,  and 
a  fervency  in  attack  which  cannot  be  paralleled  by  any 
constructive  and  conserving  agency  interested  in  aliens. 
If  Bolshevism  and  I.  W.  W.-ism  are  to  be  successfully 
combated,  America  needs  a  program  of  enlightenment, 
an  army  of  volunteer  workers,  a  wide-awake  press,  and 
a  zeal  for  American  democracy  akin  to  apostolic  fervor. 
The  radicals  have  long  had  the  right  of  way  in  communi- 
ties made  up  of  foreign-speaking  peoples.  We  should 
match  this  with  a  propaganda  of  enlightenment  as  to 
what  the  principles  of  American  democracy  are,  how  it 
operates,  and  what  the  prospects  are  for  a  successful 
future. 


VI  INTRODUCTION 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  to  aid  men  and  women 
giving  all  or  part  time  to  the  work  of  Americanization. 
It  emphasizes  the  heritage  that  is  ours,  submits  a  pro- 
gram and  a  plan  of  operation,  outlines  how  men  and 
women  may  be  trained  to  do  the  work,  and  points  to 
the  goal  which  all  Americanization  workers  should  keep 
before  them.  America  suffers  with  a  world  that  is  worn 
and  torn.  In  these  days  of  reconstruction  we  need  to 
recall  the  heroism  of  men  and  women  of  all  lands  who 
have  suffered  to  bring  about  a  better  to-morrow.  Amer- 
ica's future  is  full  of  hope,  but  it  is  inseparably  involved 
in  the  question  of  whether  or  not  we  are  willing  to  weld 
our  five  million  aliens  to  the  body  politic  by  sympathy, 
justice,  good  will,  and  brotherly  kindness.  This  can  be 
done  if  we  have  unfaltering  faith  that  out  of  all  aliens, 
staunch  defenders  of  this  great  democracy  can  be  formed. 

The  program  and  organization  outlined  in  the  book 
have  been  successfully  used  in  many  fields.  They  are 
the  fruits  of  years  of  service  for  and  with  immigrants. 
My  aim  has  been  to  interest  the  teacher  and  the  general 
reader  in  the  most  important  phases  of  Americanization. 
The  view-point  of  the  book,  as  well  as  the  choice  of  de- 
tails, has  been'  influenced  by  my  connection  with  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  as  director  of  its  Americanization  activity. 
My  work  for  the  last  fifteen  years  has  brought  me  in 
contact  with  all  kinds  of  immigrants  in  every  state  in 
the  Union.  Never  has  the  work  of  Americanization  been 
more  promising  than  now  —  promising,  because  of  the 
eagerness  of  the  foreign-born  to  receive  what  America 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

has  to  offer,  and  because  of  the  willingness  of  the  native- 
born  to  give  a  helping  hand  to  all  who  honestly  try  to 
become  Americans.  If  the  leaders  of  the  foreigners  and 
public-spirited  Americans  in  industrial  centers  where 
aliens  live  plan  wisely,  and  cooperate  heartily  in  the 
work  of  assimilation,  the  beneficent  result  will  be  better 
understanding  and  greater  solidarity  among  the  peoples 
forming  cosmopolitan  communities  —  a  consummation 
devoutly  wished  by  every  true  American. 

PETER  ROBERTS 

NEW  YORK, 
October,  1920 


TABLE   OF   CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.  WHAT  is  AMERICANIZATION?    . 

II.  THE  AMERICANIZATION  DIRECTOR    . 

III.  THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  FOREIGN-BORN  . 

IV.  THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM    . 

V.  TEACHING  ENGLISH          .... 

VI.  NATURALIZATION 

VII.  LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS     . 

VIII.  RECREATIONAL  ACTIVITIES 

IX.  ADVISORY  COUNCILS         .... 

X.  ORGANIZATION 

XL.  THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION 


PAGES 

1-26 

27-44 

45-65 

66-88 

89-108 

109-130 

131-151 

152-177 

178-201 

202-221 

222-246 


THE 
PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 


WHAT  IS  AMERICANIZATION? 

EVERY  schoolboy  knows  what  America  is;  few  can 
state  what  Americanization  means.  When  America  saw 
the  birth  of  an  independent  nation,  the  square  miles  of 
land  yielded  by  the  British  government  to  the  revolution- 
ists was  less  than  one  third  the  present  area  of  the  United 
States.  The  ideas  which  the  men  of  1776  projected  found 
a  favorable  material  basis  in  the  ceded  territory,  but 
before  independence  was  won  and  before  the  colonists 
had  ever  thought  of  seceding  from  the  mother  country, 
the  principles  which  the  founders  of  this  Republic  held 
were  ruling  their  lives  and  actions,  as  well  as  those  of 
many  of  their  contemporaries  in  Great  Britain  and 
France.  It  was  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
that  democratic  ideas  became  strong  enough  to  disrupt 
European  governments  resting  on  tradition  and  privilege. 
The  commotion,  agitation,  and  strife  in  Europe  did  not 
accomplish  much,  but  in  America  the  case  was  different. 
The  believers  in  the  natural  rights  of  man  in  this  country 
were  more  fortunate  than  their  European  compeers. 
Here  was  a  territory  which  kings  had  never  trod,  where 

1 


2  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

traditions  had  not  bound  men  hand  and  foot,  and  where 
there  was  no  class  in  the  population  to  be  compared  with 
the  "fourth  estate." 

The  colonists,  having  won  independence  and  having 
material  advantages  which  could  not  be  enjoyed  in  the 
Old  World,  set  to  work  to  institute  a  form  of  government 
designed  to  give  the  people  the  greatest  possible  freedom 
in  the  realization  of  self-determination.  A  democratic 
government  was  established  and  has  flourished  for  more 
than  one  hundred  and  forty  years.  It  is  the  political 
expression  of  the  ideals  of  the  fathers,  and  gives  us  the 
type  of  democracy  known  as  American. 

This  American  form  of  government  can  best  be  studied 
(l)  in  the  documents  which  the  colonists  drafted  and 
placed  before  the  court  of  the  world ;  (2)  in  the  history 
of  the  country  for  the  past  hundred  and  forty  years ;  and 
(3)  in  the  political  life  of  Americans  as  revealed  both  in 
home  and  foreign  affairs.  In  these  three  sources  the 
Americanization  director  must  find  what  Americanism 
means,  and  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  give  a  faint 
idea  of  what  the  spirit  of  America  is  as  exhibited  in  these 
sources. 

1.  The  Two  Fundamental  Documents.  What  were 
the  fundamental  ideals  which  the  founders  of  this  govern- 
ment held?  They  are  best  expressed  in  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  and  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States.  The  first  document  was  an  apology  to  the  peoples 
of  the  world,  specifying  in  very  distinct  terms  the  right 
the  colonists  had  to  independence,  and  the  causes  which 


WHAT  IS  AMERICANIZATION?  3 

impelled  them  to  separate  from  the  government  of  Great 
Britain.  The  second  is  the  framework  of  the  government 
they  established  and  the  regulations  under  which  it  was 
to  operate. 

In  the  very  first  sentence  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence the  fathers  appealed  to  the  "laws  of  nature" 
and  to  "nature's  God"  as  the  ground  on  which  they  based 
their  right  to  an  independent  status  among  the  nations 
of  the  earth.  "Laws  of  nature"  and  "natural  rights" 
were  synonymous  terms  in  the  minds  of  these  men,  and 
back  of  nature  they  believed  in  a  Ruler  to  whom  they 
appealed. 

The  conditions  under  which  they  lived  in  America 
undoubtedly  helped  them  to  a  right  interpretation  of  the 
"laws  of  nature"  as  expounding  the  rights  of  men. 
They  led  the  simple  life.  They  were  face  to  face  with 
the  elemental  forces  of  nature.  They  did  not  have  the 
varied,  complex,  and  intricate  life  of  the  twentieth  cen- 
tury. They  were  farmers,  living  on  their  own  farms. 
There  were  no  wealthy  men  in  the  sense  we  to-day  speak 
of  wealth ;  neither  were  there  any  poor.  The  produce 
of  field  and  flock  gave  enough  and  to  spare  to  man  and 
beast.  The  families  were  large  and  every  member  was 
busy ;  none  found  time  hanging  heavily  on  his  hands. 
The  wage-earner  of  to-day  was  the  independent  husband- 
man of  to-morrow.  Wages  were  low,  but  opportunities 
to  gain  an  independent  economic  existence  were  many. 
No  one  could  long  call  himself  master.  It  was  a  country 
where  there  were  no  captains  of  industry,  for  there  were 


4  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

no  industries.  Factories  in  the  modern  sense  of  the 
word  were  unknown.  Indented  servitude  was  practiced 
but  this  was  a  temporary  measure.  The  woods  and  the 
mountains  and  the  streams  called  unto  the  man  with 
strong  arms  and  legs  and  a  stout  heart,  and  thousands 
heard  the  call,  for  none  had  to  fear  either  starvation  or 
bondage.  The  courageous  man  in  America  in  colonial 
days  could  be  as  free  as  the  birds  and  as  strong  as  the 
roamers  of  the  wilderness. 

The  imported  immigrants  and  the  prisoners  exiled  by 
the  home  government  soon  caught  the  spirit  of  the  field 
and  forest.  If  endowed  with  courage,  fortitude,  and  a 
strong  constitution,  they  soon  learned  the  lesson  of  the 
red  man — to  die  rather  than  bend  to  the  yoke  of  bondage. 
Boys  in  their  teens  caught  the  spirit  and  were  not  afraid 
to  be  thrown  on  their  own  resources.  In  field  and  forest 
they  were  inured  to  danger  and  courted  it.  With  a  gun 
and  a  good  knife,  they  sought  adventure,  and  were  able 
to  defend  themselves  in  a  way  dreamed  of  by  few  boys  of 
to-day,  cooped,  as  they  are,  in  factories  and  mills.  George 
Rogers  Clark,  with  his  two  hundred  volunteers  marching 
a  hundred  miles  through  the  wilderness  to  strike  a  blow 
for  liberty,  is  typical  of  the  spirit  of  the  men  raised  under 
conditions  such  as  obtained  in  colonial  days.  And  it  was 
under  these  conditions  that  men,  leading  the  simple  life 
and  depending  upon  their  own  courage  to  wrest  from  na- 
ture the  gifts  she  bestowed  upon  her  children,  spoke  of 
"  natural  rights  "  and  of  the  God  of  nature  giving  them  a 
title  to  stand  on  their  own  feet  and  work  out  their  own 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  5 

destiny.  Being  true  to  themselves,  they  could  not  do 
anything  else.  They  were  the  children  of  nature  and  took 
the  lessons  she  taught  and  put  them  into  practice,  throw- 
ing away  the  fetters  which  had  long  hurt  their  hands  and 
feet. 

The  hundred  and  forty  years  intervening  between  their 
action  and  our  day  have  brought  to  pass  many  things. 
Would  the  men  of  the  twentieth  century  write  a  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  such  as  they  did  ?  They  were  prac- 
tical men  and  charged  the  king  with  : 

1.  Denying  the  right  of  self-government. 

2.  Obstructing  the  administration  of  justice. 

3.  Interfering  with  the  police  power  of  the  people. 

4.  Interfering  with  the  economic  life  of  the  people. 

5.  Waging  war  upon  the  colonists  because  they  dared 
to  protest  against  tyranny. 

6.  Refusing  to  listen  to  the  appeal  of  the  oppressed. 
These  things  they  suffered,  and  they  were  resolved  to 

change  them  or  die  in  the  attempt.  They  knew  that  the 
task  was  enormous  and  resolved  to  risk  it.  "  With  a 
firm  reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we 
mutually  pledged  to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes, 
and  our  sacred  honor."  That  has  the  ring  of  earnest- 
ness. They  believed  in  governing  themselves  ;  they  knew 
what  laws  they  needed  for  their  good.  They  could  not 
live  under  a  system  that  defeated  justice ;  they  would  not 
tolerate  a  perverted  judiciary ;  they  would  not  stand  the 
punishment  of  the  innocent  and  the  liberation  of  the  guilty  ; 
they  wanted  property  interests  protected  and  personal 


6  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

safety  assured ;  they  insisted  that  the  product  of  their 
hands  should  not  be  stolen ;  they  resolved  to  resist  having 
their  homes  burned  and  their  property  destroyed.  These 
were  the  things  for  which  the  colonists  fought  and  died, 
and  they  are  things  for  which  men  of  to-day  will  fight 
and  die. 

When  the  fathers  established  a  form  of  government  for 
themselves,  they  placed  in  the  Constitution  safeguards 
against  the  evils  they  had  endured  under  British  rule. 
The  document  vested  the  government  in  the  people ;  all 
officers  clothed  with  power  were  the  servants  of  the  people ; 
justice  was  established  by  a  series  of  courts  dispensing 
equity  between  man  and  man;  justice  depended  upon 
each  man  being  guaranteed  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits 
of  his  labor ;  the  nation  guaranteed  the  defense  of  each 
of  its  citizens  against  foreign  foes.  Provision  was  also 
made  that  whenever  the  citizens  thought  changes  should 
be  made  in  the  Constitution,  these  changes  could  be 
made.  They  guaranteed  freedom  of  worship ;  freedom 
of  speech  and  of  th*  press ;  the  right  to  petition  and  to 
keep  arms ;  the  right  to  resist  unreasonable  search ;  the 
right  to  protect  life  and  property ;  the  right  to  be  tried  by 
a  jury  of  their  own  peers ;  and  the  right  to  vote. 

It  was  the  first  attempt  made  by  a  modern  state  to  put 
all  powers  of  government  hi  the  hands  of  the  people.  It 
was  a  venture  in  self-government.  It  was  committing 
the  ship  of  state  to  the  hands  of  common  humanity  — 
a  hazardous  experiment.  All  experience  was  against 
it.  Most  of  the  statesmen  and  the  seers  of  the  Old  World 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  7 

were  against  it.  The  philosophers  of  Europe  and  the 
prophets  of  the  world  predicted  failure,  and  yet  these 
daring  men  pushed  out  to  sea  and  the  ship  of  state  is  still 
sailing  and  has  become  the  admiration  of  the  world.  The 
fathers  were  bold  men  and  men  of  faith.  They  had 
enough  faith  in  common  humanity  to  put  the  govern- 
ment in  its  hands ;  man  henceforth  was  to  be  the  source 
of  government ;  all  the  rights  that  were  to  be  set  up  were 
to  be  set  up  in  the  name  of  humanity ;  it  was  a  demand 
for  freedom  in  the  name  of  God-given  rights,  and  a  proc- 
lamation to  the  world  that  confidence  in  the  brotherhood 
of  man  was  to  be  the  cornerstone  of  this  new  edifice.  It 
has  stood  the  test  of  seven  generations  and  the  principles 
laid  down  by  the  fathers  are  defended  to-day  by  more 
voices  and  votes  than  were  dreamed  of  by  the  boldest 
seers  of  that  age. 

2.  A  Century  and  a  Half  of  History.  Let  us  now  look 
at  these  principles  in  action  during  the  hundred  and  forty 
years  of  the  nation's  life.  Have  they  been  faithfully 
applied?  Not  in  every  instance,  but  taking  the  history 

of  the  United  States  as  a  whole,  the  nation  has  a  record 

\ 

of  which  it  need  not  be  ashamed. 

The  trend  of  American  legislation,  both  federal  and 
state,  has  been  in  favor  of  the  common  man.  Never  in 
the  history  of  the  world  have  governments  divided  the 
land  among  the  people  on  so  large  a  scale  as  was  done  in 
the  United  States.  For  a  hundred  years  men  could  get 
farms  for  the  asking.  When  Congress  pressed  its  claim 
for  territory  which  the  several  states  owned,  the  state 


8  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

governments  relinquished  their  claims  in  favor  of  the 
federal  government,  and  much  of  the  public  domain  was 
distributed  among  the  people.  The  policy  was  so  liberal 
that  no  effort  was  made  to  hold  the  land  in  order  to  bestow 
it  on  the  native-born.  Large  sections  of  the  country  were 
thrown  open  to  "  foreigners/'  and  many  agricultural 
communities  are  found  in  the  United  States  made  up  of 
men  who  speak  a  tongue  other  than  English. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  practice  the  spirit  of 
democracy  in  daily  life  in  an  unconscious  way.  For  a 
hundred  years  the  gates  were  kept  open  to  immigrants. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  many  nations  abused  this  com- 
placent faith  in  the  natural  goodness  of  human  nature, 
and  unloaded  many  undesirables  on  America.  It  is  no 
reflection  on  the  statesmen  of  the  country,  nor  a  departure 
from  democratic  faith,  to  raise  the  barriers  and  to  make  im- 
"possible  the  entrance  of  the  maimed  and  the  sick,  the 
mentally  defective  and  those  suffering  from  contagious 
diseases,  the  polygamists  and  the  paupers,  the  illiterate 
and  the  leper,  the  believer  in  no  government  and  the 
destroyers  of  all  governments.  These  are  guards  thrown 
around  the  population  and  are  designed  to  keep  out 
defectives  in  body  and  mind.  Those  who  pass  educa- 
tional tests  are  allowed  to  enter,  no  discrimination  being 
made.  Congress  closed  the  gate  against  Asiatics  for 
economic  reasons.  In  no  other  country  founded  and 
ruled  by  Anglo-Saxons  has  so  liberal  a  policy  been  fol- 
lowed, and  so  great  an  optimism  been  manifested  toward 
those  coming  from  foreign  shores  to  settle  in  the  land. 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  9 

Never  have  Americans  tried  to  monopolize  the  country 
and  the  resources  of  the  country.  The  man  of  talent, 
whether  he  is  native-  or  foreign-born,  has  had  a  free  course 
and  his  efforts,  when  they  meet  a  social  need,  have  been 
generously  rewarded.  Let  a  Carnegie  organize  an  in- 
dustry to  serve  the  people  and  he  is  honored  and  enriched 
and  no  native-born  receives  greater  recognition.  Alex- 
ander Bell  is  honored  and  rewarded  just  as  much  as  Samuel 
Morse ;  Alexander  Stewart  as  much  as  John  Wanamaker ; 
Oscar  Straus  as  much  as  John  Redfield ;  Louis  Agassiz 
as  much  as  George  Dana ;  N.  Ericsson  as  well  as  Eli  Whit-r 
ney ;  Nicolas  Tesla  as  well  as  Thomas  Edison.  In  no 
country  has  the  road  been  open  to  talent  as  in  America. 
No  matter  where  we  look,  in  the  industries,  the  sciences, 
the  arts,  finance,  statesmanship  —  interspersed  among 
names  of  men  of  colonial  ancestry  are  those  of  foreign 
birth.  In  "  Who's  Who  in  America,"  the  names  of  the 
foreign-born,  as  well  as  those  of  the  native-born  are 
found,  and  no  one  dreams  of  barring  any  because  of  birth 
or  tongue  or  creed. 

The  democratic  spirit  is  also  manifested  in  the  matter 
of  education.  America  has  gone  on  the  principle  that 
"  the  existence  of  a  republic,  unless  all  its  citizens  are 
educated,  is  an  admitted  impossibility."  Jefferson  laid 
down  the  principle  that  "  to  render  even  them  (the  people) 
safe  their  minds  must  be  improved  to  a  certain  degree." 
The  people  believe  in  the  democratic  idea  of  universal 
compulsory  education,  and  this  accounts  for  the  fact  that 
"  the  average  of  knowledge  is  higher,  the  habit  of  reading 


10  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

and  thinking  more  generally  diffused  in  America  than  in 
any  other  country."  Well  may  it  be  the  boast  of  the 
United  States  that  it  aims  "  to  elevate  the  mass  of  man- 
kind —  the  laboring  class  —  to  raise  them  to  self-respect, 
to  make  them  competent  to  act  a  part  in  the  great  right 
and  the  great  duty  of  self-government." 

The  public  schools  are  open  to  all  children  and  no  ques- 
tion is  asked  whether  their  parents  are  aliens  or  citizens. 
The  incoming  thousands  impose  demands  on  communities 
that  swell  the  taxes  and  yet  the  facilities  are  provided. 
Communities  cheerfully  vote  millions  to  build  school- 
houses  to  accommodate  the  children  of  foreign-born. 
It  is  indeed  putting  into  practice  the  words  of  Washington  : 
"  Promote  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  institu- 
tions for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge ; "  and  hi  no 
instance  has  this  policy  been  more  beneficial  than  in  its 
influence  upon  the  children  of  the  foreign-born.  Our 
schools  have  been  most  potent  in  the  preservation  of 
democracy.  '  Their  absolute  democracy  and  their  uni- 
versal use  of  the  English  language  have  made  the  common 
schools  most  successful  machines  for  converting  the  raw 
material  of  immigration  into  American  citizens." 

And  not  only  is  this  true  of  the  grammar  grades,  but 
it  is  equally  true  of  the  high  schools,  colleges,  and  univer- 
sities of  the  land.  The  amount  of  money  spent  on  pupils 
in  the  high  schools  is  much  larger  per  capita  than  the 
amount  spent  upon  those  in  the  grammar  grades,  but 
the  money  is  spent  willingly  that  the  child  of  the  poorest 
family  as  well  as  that  of  the  richest  in  the  community 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  11 

/ 

may  enter  these,  without  money  and  without  price.  In 
these  schools  are  found  commercial  and  industrial  courses 
as  well  as  academic,  and  in  many  cities  technical  schools 
are  built  at  government  expense,  where  instruction  is 
given  to  all,  regardless  of  race,  in  textile  manufacture, 
bleaching,  electricity,  mining,  iron  and  steel  production. 
The  same  is  true  of  our  colleges,  seminaries,  and 
universities.  In  state  institutions  the  son  of  the  foreign- 
born  may  enter  and  no  one  asks  whether  the  parents  are 
citizens  of  America  or  not,  providing  they  are  domiciled 
in  the  state.  It  has  been  well  said  that  "in  no  country 
are  the  higher  kinds  of  learning  more  accessible." 

Another  sphere  in  which  the  principles  of  democracy 
are  applied  is  that  of  the  patent  office.  Under  no  govern- 
ment in  Christendom  have  such  liberal  principles  been 
followed  as  in  America  in  the  granting  of  patents  to  me- 
chanical geniuses  of  all  classes.  No  matter  whether  a 
man  is  foreign-born  or  not,  whenever  he  applies  for  a 
patent  the  machinery  of  the  government  is  put  at  his  serv- 
ice. The  fees  are  standardized,  the  service  is  uniform, 
and  if  the  poor  man  can  meet  the  modest  fees  asked,  he  can 
command  equal  service  with  the  millionaire.  No  sooner 
was  the  federal  government  formed  than  the  Constitution 
stated  that  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  promote  the 
progress  of  science  and  useful  arts,  by  securing  for  limited 
times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their 
respective  writings  and  discoveries."  In  no  civilized 
country  have  so  many  patents  been  issued  to  the  sons  of 
toil  as  in  these  United  States.  The  ingenuity  of  the 


12  THE  PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

Yankee,  the  acuteness  of  the  American  worker,  and 
the  quickness  of  the  American  machinist  have  become 
proverbial.  The  names  of  inventors>  from  Joseph 
Jenks  down  to  Edison,  have  been  those  of  men  at 
the  bench  whose  genius  was  encouraged  by  democratic 
stimulus,  most  of  whom  rose  to  affluence  and  many  to 
fortune. 

I  will  mention  one  more  American  institution  which 
is  the  fruit  of  the  democratic  idea  —  the  free  public  li- 
brary. It  has  well  been  called  the  "  people's  university 
and  continuation  school  of  the  toilers."  It  was  intro- 
duced about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  when  the 
state  of  Massachusetts  authorized  any  city  to  support  a 
public  library  from  the  taxes  up  to  a  certain  expense, 
according  to  the  number  of  taxpayers.  Before  the  cen- 
tury was  closed,  most  of  the  states  having  progressive 
educational  systems  had  adopted  the  free  public  library 
as  a  state  institution,  authorizing  gifts  from  the  state 
treasury  to  help  establish  such  libraries,  and  also  denning 
the  taxes  which  local  municipalities  could  appropriate 
for  the  support  of  these  institutions.  The  result  is  that 
in  hundreds  of  cities  and  towns  free  public  libraries  are 
found,  and  in  villages  and  hamlets  the  circulating  library 
finds  its  way,  bringing  within  reach  of  isolated  families 
in  rural  communities  as  well  as  in  small  industrial  centers 
the  latest  fiction,  standard  works,  and  technical  books 
which  they  could  not  hope  to  purchase. 

So  thoroughly  has  the  institution  found  favor  among 
the  people  as  a  part  of  their  educational  equipment,  that 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  13 

a  public  library  system  is  under  the  control  of  Congress 
and  in  the  hands  of  librarians  and  public  educators,  who 
regard  it  as  an  adjunct  to  our  public  school  and  higher 
educational  system.  By  means  of  this  institution,  public 
school  children  are  able  to  secure  the  use  of  books  their 
parents  could  not  purchase ;  school-teachers  are  able  to 
secure  technical  works  which  they  could  never  hope  to 
buy  from  the  meager  salaries  paid  them;  every  toiler, 
no  matter  what  his  industrial  status,  can  go  to  the  free 
public  library  and  have  access  to  masters  of  English  prose 
and  poetry,  technical  works  on  science  and  art,  the  best 
fiction  of  the  day,  which  privilege  a  few  generations  back 
was  not  within  the  reach  of  even  the  leisure  classes. 

It  is  also  a  fact  worth  noting  that  this  institution  is 
adjusting  its  equipments  to  the  need  of  the  community 
which  it  serves.  In  cities  such  as  Buffalo,  New  York, 
Brooklyn,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  San  Francisco,  where 
a  large  percentage  of  the  population  is  foreign-born,  the 
librarians  study  the  composite  elements  in  the  population, 
and  secure  books  in  the  respective  tongues.  The  libraries 
play  no  small  part  in  shaping  the  thoughts  of  the  foreign- 
born  in  the  defense  and  perpetuation  of  this  Republic. 
When  both  native-  and  foreign-born  get  into  the  habit 
of  frequenting  the  free  public  library  in  quest  of  light 
upon  the  social,  economic,  and  political  questions  of  the 
day,  we  have  gone  a  great  way  in  making  safe  the  fruits 
of  democracy  in  the  land.  When  the  voters  of  the  country, 
both  naturalized  and  native,  demand  knowledge  and  seek 
wisdom  in  the  free  library,  we  "  educate  our  masters  " 


14  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

and  make  certain  the  perpetuation  of  freedom  and  liberty 
on  this  continent. 

3.   America's  Political  Life,  Home  and  Foreign.    The 

principles  laid  down  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
and  in  the  Constitution  have  shaped  the  home  and  foreign 
policies  of  the  United  States.  These  two  documents 
have  been  the  guiding  stars  of  the  country  during  the 
hundred  and  forty  years  of  its  history  in  transactions 
with  foreign  nations. 

The  wars  of  the  United  States,  with  one  exception, 
have  differed  from  the  wars  of  other  strong  nations  in 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  waged  for  aggrandizement, 
but  for  human  rights  and  in  defense  of  the  oppressed. 
The  home  conflict  —  the  Civil  War  —  was  inevitable  if 
the  heirs  of  the  Constitution  were  to  remain  true  to  the 
principles  laid  down  by  the  fathers  of  the  Republic.  No 
sooner  was  this  document  adopted  as  the  law  of  the  land, 
than  William  Pinkney  raised  his  voice  (1788)  in  defense 
of  a  thoroughgoing  application  of  the  principle  of  freedom. 
He  said :  "  We  may  talk  of  liberty  in  our  public  councils 
and  fancy  that  we  feel  reverence  for  her  dictates.  We 
may  declaim,  with  all  the  vehemence  of  animated  rhetoric, 
against  oppression,  and  flatter  ourselves  that  we  detest 
the  ugly  monster,  but  so  long  as  we  continue  to  cherish 
the  poisonous  weed  of  partial  slavery  among  us,  the  world 
will  doubt  our  sincerity." 

At  the  very  fountain  head  of  America's  institutions, 
"  the  false  and  ignoble  distinctions  between  men  "  were 
denounced  and  the  firm  faith  reposed  "  in  the  common 


WHAT  IS  AMERICANIZATION?  15 

mind  as  the  true  material  for  a  commonwealth."  Abra- 
ham Lincoln,  before  he  was  ever  thought  of  as  a  prob- 
able candidate  for  the  Presidency  of  the  Union,  saw 
straight  when  he  declared  in  a  public  address :  "  There 
is  no  reason  in  the  world  why  the  negro  is  not  entitled  to 
all  the  rights  enumerated  in  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence —  the  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness." And  it  was  these  principles  that  worked  upon  the 
mind  and  heart  of  American  people  for  two  generations, 
urging  them  on  with  the  force  of  indisputable  logic  to 
clean  their  own  house  before  they  could  become  fit  heralds 
of  liberty  and  freedom  to  the  rest  of  the  world.  The 
one  war  —  the  Mexican  —  waged  by  the  United  States 
counter  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  Constitution 
and  counter  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, was  denounced  most  vehemently  by  the 
leaders  of  thought  of  the  day,  and  no  true  historian  has 
attempted  a  justification  of  the  depredation  committed 
against  a  weaker  neighbor. 

Taking  then  the  wars  of  America  as  a  whole,  they  are 
an  interpretation  of  the  American  spirit  and  true  to  the 
principles  of  American  Democracy.  The  War  of  1812 
was  in  defense  of  human  rights ;  that  of  1898  against 
Spain  was  in  defense  of  the  oppressed  and  enslaved ;  and 
that  of  1917  was  against  the  last  stand,  we  hope,  of  Im- 
perialism versus  Democracy.  Compare  with  these  the 
causes  of  war  in  the  history  of  nations  —  national  antago- 
nism, racial  hatred,  pride  and  arrogance,  oppression,  and 
often  religious  intolerance.  When  the  American  fleet 


16  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

and  the  American  Army  cleaned  the  Western  Hemisphere 
of  Spanish  rule,  it  was  in  defense  of  millions  who  had  long 
suffered  conditions  which  debased  manhood  and  made  im- 
possible the  growth  of  liberty  and  freedom. 

The  World  War  may  well  be  described  as  the  last  des- 
perate throw  of  imperialism  on  the  continent  in  the  con- 
flict between  the  people  and  their  rulers.  This  conflict 
began  in  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Magna  Carta  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  and  with  varied  fortunes  continued  to  our 
day.  It  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  the  forces  of 
democracy  and  those  of  tyrants  would  come  into  collision. 
They  collided  and  we  believe  that  the  way  is  clear  for  the 
peoples  of  Europe  as  well  as  of  America  to  establish  gov- 
ernment of  the  people,  by  the  people,  and  for  the  people. 
Nothing  proves  more  clearly  America's  sincerity  as  the 
defender  of  democracy  than  the  part  it  played  in  this 
World  War.  Barbarous  cruelty,  ruthless  horror,  and 
defiance  of  all  laws  of  earth  and  heaven  welded  seven 
nations  in  defense  of  democracy.  When  America  entered 
the  conflict,  the  defenders  of  liberty  the  world  over  wel- 
comed its  assistance.  It  could  not  have  stayed  out  if 
twentieth-century  Americans  were  true  to  the  principles 
of  the  two  documents  their  fathers  had  given  the  world 
"  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  to 
our  posterity." 

America  has  entered  into  world  politics.  The  advent 
of  the  steamship,  the  telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  wire- 
less, and  aerial  navigation  have  brought  the  nations  of 
Europe  and  Asia  much  closer  to  America  than  they  were 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  17 

in  the  days  when  the  founders  of  the  Republic  preached 
the  doctrine  of  non-interference  in  foreign  politics.  The 
World  War  has  left  the  door  of  international  politics  wide 
open,  and  the  part  played  by  our  country  in  the  peace 
conference  is  such  that,  willy-nilly,  the  United  States 
must  take  a  hand  in  world  politics.  The  American  hu- 
mane point  of  view  in  the  treatment  of  international  ques- 
tions had  been  advanced  by  Olney,  Hay,  and  others,  but  at 
no  previous  time  was  it  done  on  a  world  stage,  as  on  this 
occasion ;  never  before  were  the  nations  of  the  world  so 
impressed  by  the  fact  that  the  United  States  stands  for 
humanitarian  intervention  in  behalf  of  the  oppressed 
peoples  of  the  world  in  international  adjustments. 

The  humane  way  is  the  American  way.  Our  states- 
men have  not  always  paid  strict  regard  to  the  principles 
of  law  when  the  heart  strings  were  pulling  in  a  different 
direction.  Authorities  on  international  law  have  looked 
askance  on  the  humanitarian  intervention  of  the  United 
States  in  foreign  affairs,  but  the  influence  exerted  by  "  the 
diplomacy  of  humanity  "  has  been  very  potent.  When 
Greece  was  wrestling  with  the  Turkish  Empire  in  a  brave 
struggle  to  extricate  itself  from  the  bondage  of  generations, 
the  sympathy  shown  the  Greeks  and  the  free  expression 
of  public  opinion  in  America  in  the  lightness  of  their  cause 
were  aids  much  appreciated  by  the  oppressed. 

Another  episode  which  reflects  very  clearly  the  demo- 
cratic sentiments  and  humane  sympathies  of  the  people 
of  the  United  States  was  the  reception  given  to  Louis 
Kossuth  in  this  country.  This  patriot  was  involved  in 


18  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

the  attempt  made  at  revolution  in  Hungary  in  1848.  He 
and  his  followers  were  not  able  to  overthrow  the  Hapsburg 
dynasty  and  they  had  to  flee  the  country.  They  reached 
Turkey,  where  Kossuth  and  his  company  were  held  cap- 
tives. The  sympathy  of  the  United  States  was  with  the 
captives,  and  a  motion  prevailed  in  Congress  requesting 
the  President  to  put  at  the  service  of  these  men  public 
vessels  and  bring  them  to  this  country.  When  Kossuth 
came,  the  whole  nation  rejoiced ;  he  was  dined  at  the 
White  House  and  was  given  a  public  dinner  by  the 
House  of  Representatives.  The  Austrian  representative  in 
Washington  protested  against  these  demonstrations  in 
favor  of  a  man  virtually  an  outcast  from  Austria-Hungary 
because  of  the  part  he  played  in  an  attempted  revolution 
against  the  existing  government,  and  not  receiving  any 
satisfaction  while  Kossuth  was  making  a  triumphal  tour 
of  the  United  States,  he  was  recalled  by  his  government 
as  a  protest  against  "  the  principal  promoters  "  of  the 
Kossuth  episode  with  whom  he  could  no  longer  continue 
in  official  intercourse. 

Crimes  of  intolerance  and  barbarity  have  been  com- 
mitted in  foreign  lands  and  nowhere  have  they  more 
shocked  the  moral  and  humane  sympathies  of  civilized  men 
than  in  America.  The  diplomatic  services  of  the  United 
States  have  stood  for  the  principles  of  righteousness  and 
freedom,  justice  and  humanity,  and  have  never  failed 
to  bring  this  fact  to  the  notice  of  the  countries  where  the 
laws  of  God  and  man  have  been  set  at  defiance.  When, 
in  the  early  'forties  of  the  last  century,  cruel  massacres 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  19 

because  of  religious  creed  broke  out  in  the  empire  of  the 
Turk,  President  Van  Buren  informed  the  American  min- 
ister in  Constantinople  that  he  should  exert  his  influence 
with  the  Sultan  to  mitigate  these  horrors.  In  1902, 
John  Hay,  Secretary  of  State,  addressed  a  note  to  the 
government  of  Rumania  in  an  effort  to  induce  it  to  re- 
consider measures  and  laws  that  would  oppress  the  Jewish 
subjects  of  that  kingdom.  In  1904,  Theodore  Roosevelt 
protested  to  the  Russian  government  when  the  horrors 
of  the  massacre  of  the  Jews  in  Kishneff  were  known. 
These  and  other  instances  show  how  the  principles  of  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  the  Constitution  rule 
the  actions  of  officials,  not  only  at  home,  but  also  abroad. 
They  are  protests  in  the  interest  of  humanity,  they  are 
efforts  to  put  a  stop  to  acts  which  shock  the  moral  sym- 
pathies of  a  people  that  has  done  more  than  any  other  to 
pave  the  way  for  the  democratic  idea  of  freedom  of  speech, 
of  the  press,  and  of  religion. 

America  has  entered  into  the  commerce  of  the  world 
because  of  its  industrial  interests.  It  has  insisted  that  the 
waters  of  the  earth  should  be  free  to  the  commerce  of  the  na- 
tions. With  this  purpose  in  view,  it  has  consistently  inter- 
nationalized the  Panama  Canal  and  thrown  it  open  to  the 
commerce  of  the  world.  It  secured  the  opening  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  to  the  nations  of  the  world,  while  its  /  own 
rivers  and  harbors  are  kept  open  on  that  principle.  It 
approached  the  governments  of  South  America  to  throw 
open  the  La  Plata  and  the  Amazon  rivers  "  in  accordance 
with  the  fixed  principles  of  international  law  as  channels 


20  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

opened  by  nature  for  the  commerce  of  all  nations,"  and 
its  good  offices  were  rewarded  by  the  governments  directly 
interested.  When  Russia  threw  its  arms  over  the  north- 
western coast  of  America  and  issued  an  order  that  no 
vessel  should  come  within  one  hundred  miles  of  the  coast, 
the  government  of  the  United  States  made  it  very  clear 
to  Russia  that  any  attempt  on  its  part  to  extend  its  rule 
on  this  continent  would  be  contested.  Then  was  estab- 
lished the  famous  "  Monroe  Doctrine  and  the  Golden 
Rule,"  that  the  American  continents  were  no  longer  to 
be  regarded  as  territory  where  any  European  power  could 
in  future  establish  colonies.  The  result  has  been  that  the 
Western  Hemisphere  is  free  of  the  form  of  government 
that  has  brought  Europe  again  and  again  to  the  verge  of 
ruin.  It  has  been  the  basis  upon  which  peace  has  been 
maintained  on  the  American  continents,  so  that  weak 
republics  may  grow  strong  and  fear  nothing  from 
European  or  Asiatic  imperialism. 

Legislatures,  in  home  affairs,  have  invariably  defended 
the  rights  of  the  people  when  these  are  invaded,  and  never 
has  intrenched  wealth  or  privilege  long  been  able  to  with- 
stand the  will  of  the  people  in  America.  The  United 
States  is  young,  and  yet  has  acquired  much  experience. 
The  Constitution  was  adopted  by  about  three  and  a 
half  million  people ;  to-day  we  are  nearly  a  hundred  and 
ten  million. 

The  growth  in  material  possessions  has  been  most 
remarkable ;  the  nation  has  passed  from  the  agricultural 
to  the  industrial  stage.  During  the  nation's  brief  exist- 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  21 

ence,  the  steam  engine,  the  steamship,  telegraph,  tele- 
phone, wireless,  air  navigation  have  been  invented. 
These  have  brought  Europe  closer  to  America  than  Chi- 
cago was  to  New  York  in  the  'fifties  of  the  last  century. 
These  new  agencies  of  progress  have  had  a  serious  effect 
upon  the  workings  of  law  and  its  adaptation  to  national 
need.  "  A  new  nation  seems  to  have  been  created  which 
the  old  formulae  (of  the  Constitution)  do  not  fit  or 
vitally  interpret,"  and  the  important  task  attacked  by 
legislatures  and  the  courts  in  the  last  fifty  years  has 
been' to  make  this  fundamental  document  meet  new  con- 
ditions. When  we  consider  the  work  done  it  has  been 
wonderful,  and  taking  it  as  a  whole,  the  trend  has 
invariably  been  in  defense  of  popular  rights  as  against 
the  strong  man  who  squeezed  the  people. 

Another  factor  in  the  complicated  task  is  the  multiply- 
ing of  laws  by  state  legislatures.  They  now  number  forty- 
eight,  each  grinding  out  laws  to  meet  the  needs  as  ex- 
pressed by  the  people  in  the  several  states.  In  every 
state,  however,  it  may  be  said  that  the  laws  reflect  the 
consciousness  of  the  people,  and  are  really  an  exposition  of 
how  they  have  defended  themselves  against  the  evils 
that  were  threatening  their  liberty.  Hence,  running 
through  the  legislatures  of  the  land,  both  state  and  federal, 
is  a  strong  will  emanating  from  the  majority  to  restrain 
the  few  who  exploit  the  nation, 

The  employer  who  directed  his  employees  how  to  vote, 
does  so  now  at  his  peril ;  the  financiers  who  spanned 
the  continent  by  the  clever  device  of  holding  companies, 


22 

cannot  do  so  now ;  the  grip  of  a  group  of  strong  bankers 
concentrating  their  power  at  one  point  has  been  broken ; 
the  official  active  in  politics  must  cease  such  practices,  or 
quit  his  job ;  the  owner  of  coal  lands,  oil  wells,  artesian 
wells,  forests,  and  mineral  wealth  cannot  do  as  he  pleases, 
the  interest  of  the  public  must  be  consulted  ;  the  owner  of 
a  non-navigable  stream  may  lose  his  rights  to  it  if  the 
waters  are  necessary  for  a  populous  city ;  the  butcher  and 
the  baker,  the  canner  and  the  dairy  farmer,  the  chemist  and 
the  druggist,  cannot  manage  their  business  as  they  have 
a  mind  to,  for  the  products  they  put  on  the  market  may 
injure  public  health ;  a  man  cannot  marry  whomsoever 
he  pleases,  he  must  conform  to  state  laws ;  a  man  can  no 
longer  dispose  of  his  property  as  he  wills,  he  must  yield  a 
part  of  it  to  the  state  as  a  tribute  to  the  collective  interest 
of  the  people ;  the  parent  is  no  longer  judge  of  what 
education  his  child  is  to  receive  or  when  he  ought  to  go 
to  work,  these  are  regulated  by  the  state ;  women  and 
minors  who  work  are  not  to  determine  when  they  can  sell 
their  labor  and  how  many  hours  they  may  work,  the 
state  lays  down  laws ;  strikes  may  be  regulated  by  the 
government  or  the  labor  union ;  wages  cannot  be 
reduced  when  a  grinding  taskmaster  has  a  mind  to 
do  so ;  conditions  of  employment  must  be  decent ;  in- 
surance must  be  provided  against  accidents  ;  compensation 
must  be  paid  the  dependents  of  the  injured  breadwinner ; 
and  the  manufacturer  who  produces  shoddy  goods  must 
make  this  known.  The  people  have  demanded  pro- 
tection against  great  combinations  of  capital,  and  the  law 


WHAT  IS  AMERICANIZATION?  23 

has  been  so  shaped  that  to-day  the  state  virtually  controls 
many  corporations ;  hence  the  railroads  cannot  charge 
what  the  traffic  will  bear,  ships  cannot  sail  as  they  please, 
telegraph  and  telephone  companies  cannot  set  the  rates 
according  to  will,  and  the  books  of  big  firms  must  be 
kept  open  for  government  inspection. 

These  adaptations  of  the  law  to  meet  the  needs  of  the 
people  clearly  show  the  drift.  The  process  goes  on  con- 
tinuously ;  it  is  what  Marshall  meant  when  he  said, 
"  Constitutions  are  not  made,  but  grow."  In  the  life 
of  the  nation,  this  passing  from  individualism  to  col- 
lectivism has  been  rapid,  and  in  no  country  have  greater 
changes  been  made  than  here  in  America.  We  confess 
that  we  suffer  from  the  multiplicity  of  laws  turned  out, 
but  amid  the  confusion  we  see  that  the  people  are  resolved 
to  adapt  the  existing  government  machinery  to  meet 
the  need  of  changing  times.  They  are  determined  that 
"  the  Colossus  of  business,  uniform,  concentrated,  poised 
upon  a  single  plan,  governed,  not  by  votes  but  by  com- 
mands, seeking  no  service  but  profits,"  must  be  pre- 
vented from  exploitation.  This  harmonizing  of  conflict- 
ing interests  goes  on  daily,  and  by  peaceful  and  patient 
processes,  in  which  the  best  brain  of  the  country  is 
involved. 

During  the  year  that  America  was  engaged  in  the 
World  War,  many  things  were  done  by  the  government 
which  clearly  pointed  to  retrogression  rather  than 
progress.  Suppressive  measures  were  the  result  of 
the  exigencies  of  the  hour;  the  extreme  exercise  of 


24  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

police  power  in  some  instances  can  only  be  explained  by 
hysteria. 

In  post-bellum  days  we  are  still  suffering  from  over- 
officiousness  of  government  officials.  The  arrogance 
and  daring  of  radical  agencies  anger  and  disturb  the 
equanimity  of  those  charged  with  keeping  the  peace, 
and  in  their  anxiety  they  overstep  the  boundary  of 
moderation  and  discretion.  These  are  only  aberrations 
of  a  temporary  character.  When  the  world  again  comes 
to  order,  and  the  people  live  in  peace,  these  excesses  will 
disappear.  We  believe  that  the  governments  of  both 
state  and  nation  will  respond  to  the  demand  of  the 
greater  number,  and  that  the  rapid  advancement  made 
in  adapting  and  interpreting  the  principles  of  the  Con- 
stitution in  defense  of  the  interest  of  the  majority  will 
continue.  Some  progressives  demand  a  "  new  social 
bond  .  .  .  which  will  serve  ...  as  an  impulse,  an 
inspiration,  and  a  leaven."  Whatever  the  "  new  social 
bond  "  has  to  offer,  it  must  pass  through  the  mind  of  the' 
people,  must  take  the  path  along  which  progress  has  been 
realized  in  the  past,  and  must  come  as  the  dawn,  —  first 
the  glow  and  then  the  full  light  of  day. 

In  the  meantime,  let  any  one  conversant  with  the 
American  spirit  know  and  perceive  how  it  has  manifested 
itself  in  the  law  of  the  land.  This  is  especially  the 
obligation  resting  upon  those  interested  in  American- 
ization. They  must  be  convinced  that  the  trend  at  home 
and  abroad  is  in  defense  of  popular  rights.  In  no  other 
way  can  they  bring  the  idea  clearly  before  the  foreign- 


WHAT   IS  AMERICANIZATION?  25 

born  in  America  and  make  them  see  it.  If  we  cannot  be 
thoroughly  convinced  of  this  truth,  if  we  cannot  affirm 
without  equivocation  that  the  spirit  of  America  has 
kept  open  the  way  of  progress  to  the  weak  and  the  op- 
pressed of  the  world,  then  we  are  not  qualified  tO'be  the 
heralds  of  Americanization  to  the  foreign-born.  If  in 
home  affairs  as  well  as  in  foreign,  the  plan  of  American 
government  has  failed  to  secure  the  blessings  of  peace 
to  the  majority  of  the  people  in  the  land,  then  American 
democracy  has  been  a  failure,  and  we  have  no  message  to 
the  aliens  in  the  country.  The  workings  of  the  American 
spirit,  as  I  have  studied  it  in  the  two  great  documents 
given  us  by  the  revolutionists,  as  exhibited  in  the  history 
of  the  country  and  the  institutions  established,  a,s  shown 
in  the  policies  which  have  dominated  the  action  of  the 
several  states,  and  in  the  federal  government,  convince 
me  that  the  experiment  in  democracy  on  this  continent 
is  not  a  failure,  and  this  being  my  firm  conviction,  not- 
withstanding the  lapses  and  shortcomings  in  the  story, 
I  can  take  a  message  of  hope  and  faith  to  the  millions  of 
foreign-born  in  the  nation. 

REFERENCES 

STRAIGHT  AMERICA  :  Frances  A.  Kellor,  Chapter  XI. 
AMERICANIZATION  :  Royal  Dixon,  Chapter  I. 
AMERICANIZATION  :  Emory  S.  Bogardus,  Chapters  I- VI. 
THE  NEW  DEMOCRACY  :  Walter  E.  Weyl,  Chapter  II. 
THE  NEW  Civics :  Roscoe  Lewis  Ashley,  Chapter  XII. 
THE    AMERICAN    PLAN    OF    GOVERNMENT:     Charles    Bacon, 
Chapter  IV. 


26  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

THE  ORIGIN  AND  GROWTH  OF  THE  AMERICAN  CONSTITUTION: 
Hannis  Taylor,  Chapter  XIV. 

A  CHAPTER  OF  DEMOCRACY:  Theodore  Roosevelt,  The  Out- 
look, February  24,  1912. 

WHAT  is  AMERICA?  :  E.  A.  Ross. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  AMERICANIZATION  DIRECTOR 

I  ATTENDED  a  conference  with  twenty-five  men  to  discuss 
the  question  of  the  choice  of  an  Americanization  director 
for  an  industrial  plant  in  which  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
employees  were  foreign-born.  The  men  in  the  confer- 
ence represented  the  best  brain  of  that  industrial  plant, 
and  thought  they  knew  exactly  what  kind  of  man  this 
director  should  be.  They  selected  a  gentleman  whom 
they  all  knew,  but  who  knew  nothing  of  the  foreigner 
or  of  the  work  for  which  he  was  chosen.  The  man  was 
proposed  by  the  works'  manager  as  a  well-equipped 
candidate  for  the  position.  I  asked  some  questions 
as  to  the  qualifications  of  the  proposed  candidate  for 
the  job,  and  the  men  confessed  that  he  knew  nothing 
of  the  foreign-born,  had  no  experience  in  working  with 
them,  had  no  idea  what  they  needed,  and  had  no  program 
or  plan  of  organization  to  suggest.  He  was  a  good 
fellow,  had  a  good  character,  was  perfectly  safe,  was 
popular  among  the  managerial  forces,  but  he  did  not 
know  anything  about  Americanization.  I  suggested 
that  it  would  be  wise  to  secure  a  trained  leader  for  so 
important  a  work,  when  the  head  draftsman  said : 
"He  is  a  good  man,  we  know  him,  he  is  popular,  why 

27 


28  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

won't  he  do?"  If  this  same  gentleman  chose  a  man  as 
his  assistant,  he  would  demand  something  more  than 
good  fellowship,  geniality,  and  character.  He  would 
demand  skill  in  the  use  of  tools,  training  in  the  art  of 
drafting,  capacity  in  calculation,  etc. ;  but  he  did  not 
think  special  training  was  necessary  for  the  far  more 
delicate  task  of  shaping  the  minds  and  hearts  of  peoples 
of  twenty  different  races  to  American  ideals. 

The  work  of  Americanization,  which  is  the  molding 
and  shaping  of  the  ideas  of  foreign-born  men  as  to  what 
America  stands  for,  the  training  of  the  foreign-born 
in  the  modus  operandi  of  democratic  institutions  as 
found  in  these  United  States,  the  informing  of  these 
men  as  to  the  history  of  the  country  and  the  founders 
of  the  Republic,  need  trained  leadership.  We  spend 
millions  in  experiments  in  scientific  farming,  in  ex- 
terminating parasites,  in  unveiling  the  contents  of  the 
crust  of  the  earth,  in  raising  the  weight  and  quality  of 
hogs,  cows,  sheep,  and  horses,  and  trained  men  do  the 
work.  The  money  is  well  spent.  But  when  it  comes  to 
shaping  the  ideas  and  concepts  of  fifteen  million  people 
of  foreign  birth  according  to  American  standards,  many 
believe  that  it  can  be  done  by  untrained  workers  who 
have  more  enthusiasm  than  knowledge,  more  fervor  than 
intelligence,  more  oratorical  powers  than  practical  wisdom. 

Before  this  work  can  be  done,  the  facts  of  the  case  must 
be  studied  and  a  practical  plan  of  work  offered.  Public 
meetings  have  a  place  in  Americanization,  but  they  alone 
will  not  solve  the  problem.  Americanism  needs  a  band 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  29 

i 

of  consecrated  men  and  women  to  meet  the  foreign-born 
in  their  small  halls,  institute  classes  in  their  club  houses 
or  their  dance  halls,  or  turn  the  boarding  house  into  a 
classroom.  Trained  leadership  is  needed  for  the  work, 
and  it  can  only  be  secured  by  mapping  out  courses  which 
should  be  taken  by  those  who  hope  to  be  Americanization 
directors. 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  outline  the  factors 
which  should  influence  the  policy  of  the  worker  among 
the  foreign-born. 

1.  The  Background  of  Immigrant  Races.  The  Ameri- 
canization director  should  know  much  about  the  back- 
ground of  immigrant  races  in  America.  There  are 
possibly  more  than  fifty  different  peoples  coming  to  the 
United  States  from  Europe,  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  islands 
of  the  seas.  They  are  not  all  distinct  races,  but  they  are 
distinct  groups,  having  a  separate  history,  unique  cus- 
toms, distinct  tongues  or  dialects,  a  character  they  want 
recognized,  a  calendar  they  observe,  distinct  political 
forms  in  which  they  have  been  drilled,  and  special  re- 
ligious exercises  in  which  they  have  been  raised  from 
childhood.  And  the  man  or  woman  who  makes  an  honest 
effort  to  find  out  what  agencies  have  molded  the  lives 
of  the  several  peoples  in  the  immigration  inflow  will  be 
broad  in  his  sympathies,  tolerant  of  varying  standards,  able 
to  understand  men  who  cling  to  old  country  ways  and  look 
with  distrust  on  much  that  the  native-born  appreciates. 

I  do  not  mean  that  every  worker  among  the  foreign- 
born,  before  he  begins  work,  should  familiarize  himself 


30  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

with  the  fifty  different  varieties  of  peoples  coming  to  the 
United  States.  The  worker  will  seldom  meet  in  any  lo- 
cality more  than  twenty  varieties,  but  if  he  is  to  do  good 
work  among  these  peoples  of  twenty  different  groups, 
he  must  know  from  where  they  came,  what  are  the 
economic  conditions  in  the  country  whence  they  came, 
what  are  the  forms  of  government,  what  are  the  prevailing 
religious  forms,  what. are  some  of  the  customs,  what  are 
some  of  their  leading  holidays,  what  they  commemorate 
and  who  are  their  leading  men  —  heroes,  statesmen, 
poets,  and  scientists  —  who  have  contributed  to  the 
advancement  of  their  civilization. 

Race  consciousness  is  in  the  blood,  and  no  injection 
of  Americanism  will  be  able  to  get  it  out  of  the  system. 
It  is  wholly  independent  of  the  size  of  the  country  from 
which  men  come,  or  of  the ''number  of  men  forming  the 
people ;  indeed,  it  is  often  strongest  in  people  who  have  no 
country  which  they  can  call  their  own.  The  Jew  and 
the  Pole  have  long  been  without  a  country,  but  in  no 
people  is  race  consciousness  more  pronounced.  The  Irish 
had  little  self-determination,  and  yet  no  immigrant 
people  in  the  United  States  has  clung  more  tenaciously 
to  race  consciousness.  Nationalism  is  one  of  the  strongest 
ties  in  the  human  soul.  When  men  cry,  "  Down  with 
the  foreign  press  in  America,"  and  demand  federal 
legislation  to  make  it  a  crime  to  publish  a  foreign  news- 
paper in  the  country,  they  strike  at  one  of  the  strongest 
passions  in  the  human  soul;  it  is  as  foolish  to  forbid 
talking  in  a  foreign  tongue  as  to  forbid  the  issuing  of  a 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  31 

foreign  newspaper,  for  both  are  rooted  in  race  con- 
sciousness, and  no  legislation  of  this  character  will  be 
effective  in  a  democracy.  Let  the  Americanization 
worker  remember  this  fact  of  race  consciousness,  and 
use  it  for  the  promotion  of  the  Americanization  program. 
The  director  who  qualifies  aright  will  study  the  story 
of  the  peoples  among  whom  he  works,  know  something 
about  their  heroes  and  poets,  their  national  joys  and 
sorrows,  and  appreciate  what  is  beautiful  in  their  art 
and  songs.  The  Polish  maid  who  hears  the  national 
Polish  hymn  played  and  sung  in  the  home  where  she  earns 
her  daily  bread,  will  put  more  heart  into  her  work  and 
more  good  will  in  her  service.  The  Greek  who  knows 
that  you  admire  Pericles  and  Lysander,  Epaminondas 
and  Themistocles,  will  think  more  of  you  and  show  you 
greater  favor.  v  The  Russian  who  knows  that  you  appre- 
ciate Russian  music  and  the  poems  of  Pushkin,  some  of 
the  songs  of  Glinka  and  the  writings  of  Gorki,  will  open 
his  heart  and  his  mind  and  become  as  clay  in  the  hand 
of  the  potter.  The  Lithuanian  is  dignified  and  conserva- 
tive, but  talk  to  him  about  the  antiquity  of  his  people, 
that  his  people  were  in  Europe  long  before  the  Slav,  tell 
him  that  his  tongue  is  akin  to  the  Sanskrit,  and  that 
the  music  of  his  nation  is  as  rich  as  it  is  sweet :  you  will 
get  a  hearing,  you  will  never  find  a  stancher  friend. 
Every  race  has  its  epochs  and  its  sacred  days,  its  festivities 
and  its  holidays,  its  commemorations  and  celebrations, 
and  the  Americanization  director  who  knows  the  meaning 
of  these  days  and  seasons  will  multiply  his  points  of 


32  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

contact.  These  advantages  the  worker  will  gain  by 
honest  study  of  the  history  of  the  peoples  among  whom 
he  works. 

2.  The  Difference  between  Peoples.  The  Ameri- 
canization worker  will  know  the  difference  between 
immigrant  races  and  the  difference  between  groups  of 
the  same  people.  The  Italian  differs  very  much  from 
the  Finn,  and  accordingly  in  the  work  of  Americanization 
the  lines  of  approach  must  differ.  Any  attempt  to  form 
a  class  in  English  or  civics  by  combining  peoples  as  far 
removed  as  the  Greek  and  the  White  Russian  is  doomed 
to  failure.  Take  the  Italians,  —  those  coming  from 
Turin  differ  from  Sicilians,  and  an  effort  to  combine  both 
in  an  organization  for  Americanization  will  not  succeed. 

Foreign-born  men  of  the  same  nationality  are  divided 
into  groups  according  to  the  place  from  which  they  come. 
Greeks  from  parts  of  the  Turkish  Empire  have  very  little 
in  common  with  Greeks  from  Athens.  Poles  from  Ger- 
many have  little  in  common  with  those  of  their  race 
coming  from  Russia — they  are  creatures  of  environments 
wholly  different  and  come  from  civilizations  having  very 
different  standards.  Some  Portuguese  are  among  the  poor- 
est and  most  ignorant  of  immigrant  groups ;  it  would  be 
very  unwise  to  use  the  same  program  of  Americanization 
with  these  as  with  a  group  of  Swedes  or  Norwegians. 
The  Germans  from  Germany  are  a  well-trained  and 
literate  people,  but  the  descendants  of  those  Germans 
who  settled  in  Russia  in  the  time  of  Peter  the  Great, 
who  cling  to  the  language  and  the  religion  of  their  fathers, 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  33 

and  who  because  of  persecution  have  come  to  the  United 
States,  are  a  very  different  people.  They  were  born  and 
raised  in  Russia,  but  were  not  a  part  of  it,  and  .neither 
are  they  a  part  of  modern  Germany,  although  they  con- 
verse and  worship  .in  German. 

European  nations  have  for  centuries  fought  with  each 
other  and  notwithstanding  the  efforts  made  by  the  Peace 
Conference  to  reconcile  these  people,  the  memory  of 
ancient  conflicts  will  not  die  out,  and  the  director  ought 
to  know  something  of  the  relation  between  them.  The 
Slovaks  were  subjected  and  oppressed  by  the  Magyars 
of  Hungary  for  generations  —  they  will  not  forget  it. 
Ask  an  educated  Slovak  what  he  thinks  of  the  Magyars, 
and  he  will  express  himself  in  terms  which  are  the  result 
of  persecution,  intolerance,  oppression,  and  imprison- 
ment. These  jealousies,  prejudices,  and  conflicts  have 
their  roots  in  centuries  of  antagonism  and  rivalry  and  will 
not  be  forgotten  in  America,  and  the  Americanization 
worker  will  avoid  many  mistakes  if  he  knows  the  family 
quarrels  of  European  countries.  Half  the  fights  and  quar- 
rels in  drinking  dens,  at  weddings,  and  at  dances  are 
due  to  antipathies  and  hatreds  having  their  roots  in  the 
Old  World. 

There  is  little  fellowship  and  cooperation  between  Serb 
and  Croat,  although  they  are  the  same  people,  speaking 
the  same  language,  and  descending  from  the  same  stock. 
The  Ukrainians  are  divided  into  factions  in  the  United 
States,  due  partly  to  politics  and  partly  to  religion.  The 
people  of  the  Balkans  have  their  jealousies  and  antipathies, 


34  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

and  Americanization  work  among  them  has  often  failed 
and  the  workers  have  wondered  why.  They  did  not 
know  the  antagonism  engendered  in  .the  Old  World. 
You  cannot  mix  oil  and  water,  and  no  more  will  people 
who  have  been  enemies  from  time  immemorial  join 
in  one  common  program  of  uplift  for  the  community. 
Our  task  is  to  raise  them  above  the  prejudices  and  mis- 
understandings having  their  roots  in  the  Old  World ; 
this  is  possible  if  the  director  is  patient  and  wise.  The 
farther  removed  these  people  are  from  Old  World  ways, 
and  the  more  they  adapt  themselves  to  American  ways, 
the  easier  it  is  to  unite  them  in  one  common  brotherhood. 

3.  A  Definite  Program.  The  Americanization  worker 
should  have  a  definite  program.  As  before  suggested, 
this  must  be  modified  according  to  the  group  served ; 
nevertheless,  he  should  have  clearly  before  him  a  well- 
defined  program  of  service  with  the  foreign-born. 

The  English-speaking  immigrant  differs  very  greatly 
from  the  Syrian  or  Armenian,  and  yet  both  need  the  serv- 
ice contemplated  in  Americanization  work.  The  pro- 
gram, however,  must  be  considerably  modified  before  it 
answers  the  needs  of  Scandinavians  as  compared  with  the 
peoples  from  the  Balkan  states.  The  Swedes  and  Nor- 
wegians are  versed  in  the  principles  of  democracy ;  they 
understand  very  readily  what  we  mean  when  we  talk  of 
American  ideals ;  they  have  little  difficulty  in  understand- 
ing our  political  machinery ;  but  this  is  not  the  case 
with  the  peoples  from  southeastern  Europe.  The  first 
principles  of  American  democracy  must  be  explained 


THE  AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  35 

to  these.  It  takes  some  time  for  the  brightest  among 
them  to  understand  that  the  government  in  the  United 
States  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and  that  all  public 
officials  are  the  servants  of  the  people.  When  the  teacher 
has  put  the  facts  clearly  before  these  people,  and  believes 
they  understand,  their  questions  again  and  again  show 
the  workings  of  their  minds  in  the  old  channels  —  they 
look  for  autocratic  power  of  lord  or  sovereign. 

In  many  New  England  towns  we  find  many  different 
peoples  living  side  by  side  —  Swedes,  Russians,  Poles, 
Portuguese,  and  French  Canadians.  These  people,  rep- 
resenting very  different  states  of  civilization,  form  the 
major  part  of  the  population  in  many  cities.  Each  group 
needs  Americanization,  but  it  requires  good  judgment  and 
discernment  to  prepare  material  to  do  the  work.  This 
is  the  reason  why  the  promoter  should  know  something  of 
the  background  of  the  immigrants,  and  especially  the  form 
of  government  under  which  they  lived.  Every  naturali- 
zation class  affords  an  opportunity  to  study  comparative 
government,  if  the  teacher  knows  the  nature  of  the 
government  of  the  land  whence  the  men  came.  The 
peoples  of  southeastern  Europe  are  most  teachable  and 
receptive ;  they  do  not  profess  to  know  all  that  is  worth 
knowing  about  democracy,  and  they  are  most  anxious 
to  join  a  class  to  learn  how  the  people  in  America  govern 
themselves.  This  is  not  the  case  with  many  immigrants 
coming  from  northwestern  Europe. 

The  Educational  Bureau  and  the  Bureau  of  Naturaliza- 
tion in  Washington  have  shown  commendable  zeal  in 


36  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

encouraging  aliens  to  become  citizens ;  when,  however, 
they  send  the  same  literature  to  the  Canadian  declaring 
his  intention  to  become  an  American  citizen  as  they  send 
to  the  Rumanian,  they  inevitably  anger  the  man  from 
Canada.  We  are  told,  by  men  who  ought  to  know, 
that  there  is  more  real  democracy  in  Canada  and  Great 
Britain  than  in  America.  This  may  be  true.  Never- 
theless, the  British  subject  who  comes  to  America  has 
much  to  learn  about  the  way  the  people  rule  in  the  United 
States.  Americanization  work  is  needed  among  the  tens 
of  thousands  of  British  subjects  in  the  United  States, 
but,  unfortunately,  they  are  among  the  most  reluctant 
of  immigrants  to  identify  themselves  with  America. 
One  of  the  most  successful  classes  organized  for  the 
study  of  American  government  was  a  group  of  fifty 
Englishmen,  taught  by  a  capable  lawyer  of  British  stock. 
The  group  met  once  a  week,  and  during  the  winter 
carried  on  a  study  in  comparative  government  —  America 
and  Great  Britain.  Discussions  were  often  very  lively, 
but  the  interest  was  kept  up  and  the  men  thoroughly 
enjoyed  the  course.  It  was  a  kind  of  round  table  dis- 
cussion and  afforded  an  outlet  to  pride  of  race. 

The  principles  of  American  government  must  be  taught 
to  a  group  of  Portuguese  or  Russians  in  a  very  elementary 
way.  One  of  the  most  difficult  groups  to  interest  in 
Americanization  is  the  Mexican.  This  is  due  partly  to 
friction,  misunderstanding,  unadjusted  wrongs  between 
neighboring  peoples,  and  partly  to  ancestral  pride. 
In  the  southwest  we  have  communities  in  which  the 


THE  AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  37 

Mexican  population  is  the  dominant  element,  and  these 
men  believe  that  the  Spanish  language  is  more  beautiful, 
more  dignified,  and  richer  than  the  English ;  they  are 
also  taught  that  Americans  shamefully  exploited  the 
Mexicans.  Men  in  this  state  of  mind  are  difficult  of 
approach.  One  of  the  first  steps  is  to  establish  confidence 
between  Americans  and  Mexicans.  Before  successful 
work  can  be  done,  a  special  program  must  be  prepared 
for  Mexicans  in  the  southwest,  and  placed  in  the  hands 
of  men  who  know  these  people  and  have  faith  in  them. 

Many  persons;  marking  this  insistence  on  adapting 
the  program  of  Americanization  to  the  previous  culture 
of  the  various  peoples,  ask  in  despair,  "  How  can  we  adapt 
programs  to  meet  the  needs  of  fifty  different  peoples?  " 
The  answer  is  :  It  is  not  necessary  to  modify  the  program 
for  every  group,  but  it  is  necessary  to  study  the  group 
in  order  to  render  good  service.  I  have  just  passed  a 
bakery.  How  varied  are  the  kinds  of  bread  the  baker 
sells  !  Different  kinds  of  loaves,  different  kinds  of  buns, 
different  kinds  of  designs,  —  but  all  bread.  I  asked  the 
baker :  ''  Why  do  you  go  to  the  trouble  of  preparing 
these  different  varieties  of  bread?  Is  not  every  variety 
made  of  the  same  wheat ;  are  they  not  all  baked  in  the 
same  oven ;  are  they  not  all  prepared  by  the  same  hands?" 
He  answered :  "  Yes,  but  I  must  do  this  to  meet  the 
tastes  of  my  customers.  Some  ask  for  French  rolls, 
others  want  Vienna  bread,  others  soft  rolls,  some  hard 
rolls,  etc.  All  come  from  the  same  wheat,  but  I  must 
study  the  tastes  of  different  palates,  for  the  one  great 


38  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

purpose  of  doing  business."  That  is  exactly  the  way 
with  Americanization.  The  principles  of  American  De- 
mocracy are  clearly  laid  down  in  the  Constitution ;  they 
have  been  applied,  expounded,  and  confirmed  in  the 
experience  of  the  nation  and  in  international  relations, 
but  they  must  be  adapted  in  different  ways  to  meet  the 
varying  needs  and  capacities  of  immigrant  peoples. 

4.  Genuine  Faith  in  American  Democracy.  The 
Americanization  worker  should  be  a  genuine  believer 
in  American  democracy.  There  are  other  democracies, 
and  each  differs  from  the  other  in  form  and  content ; 
but  the  worker  in  Americanization  must  know  the  Ameri- 
can brand  and  live  up  to  the  faith  that  is  in  him. 
Cleisthenes  established  a  democracy  in  Athens,  and  it 
meant  a  few  thousand  electors  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
slaves.  It  is  possible  to  have  a  democratic  form  of  govern- 
ment, and  so  to  circumscribe  the  power  of  the  electorate 
that  from  twenty-five  to  fifty  per  cent  of  the  potential  vote 
of  the  country  is  disfranchised. 

Democracy  in  a  country  that  is  bound  by  tradition, 
that  has  a  hereditary  tenureship  in  land,  that  has  a  titled 
aristocracy  intrenched  by  centuries  of  custom  and  usage, 
is  very  different  from  the  democracy  we  cherish  in  this 
country.  In  Russia  they  have  a  custom  of  throwing 
a  richly  embroidered  pall  over  the  rough  coffin  in  which 
the  body  of  a  poor  peasant  is  incased,  for  there  is  a  belief 
prevalent  among  the  peasants  that  every  Russian  at 
death  becomes  a  priest  and  a  king.  The  faith  of  America 
is  that  every  citizen,  while  he  lives,  is  a  priest  and  a  king, 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  39 

regardless  of  social  status  or  wealth.  Faith  in  the  common 
man  is  the  crowning  glory  of  America.  This  faith  has 
its  roots  not  only  in  racial  consciousness,  but  in  humanity. 
When  America  kept  open  its  gates  to  men  of  character 
and  health  from  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  it  was  true 
to  the  principles  laid  down  by  the  men  who  wrote  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  "  Humanity  is  humanity  " 
must  be  a  cardinal  principle  in  the  faith  of  every  American- 
ization worker. 

6.  Faith  in  Immigrants.  The  Americanization  worker 
must  have  real  faith  in  the  foreign-born.  He  must 
believe  that  these  men  who  come  from  foreign  countries 
have  in  them  the  stuff  of  which  self-governing  citizens  are 
made.  The  impoverished  White  Russian,  the  illiterate 
Portuguese,  the  stolid  Ukrainian,  the  ignorant  Turk, 
may  appear  very  unlikely  material  for  the  coming 
generations  of  Americans,  and  yet  this  material  must  be 
incorporated  into  the  fabric  of  democracy,  else  the  aspira- 
tions of  man  for  the  abolition  of  all  imperialism  will  be 
defeated. 

It  is  the  glory  of  America  to  have  taken  most  unlikely 
groups  of  immigrants  and  fashioned  them  into  sons  and 
daughters  of  this  Republic.  Human  nature  bound  by 
tradition  and  crushed  by  tyranny,  want,  and  lack  of 
opportunity,  gives  no  indication  of  its  potencies  when 
transplanted  to  a  richer  soil  and  put  under  conditions 
of  freedom  and  opportunity.  Favorable  environment 
makes  all  the  difference  in  the  world  in  the  growth  of 
plants.  A  herd  of  cattle  fed  on  the  arid  acreage  of 


40  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

Arizona  will  never  be  anything  but  scrawny  and  ill  kept ; 
transfer  it  to  the  rich  pasture  land  of  Iowa,  and  each 
head  will  grow  sleek  and  fat. 

Southeastern  Europe,  whence  we  receive  the  major 
part  of  our  immigrants,  has  been  consumed  by  war, 
stultified  by  custom,  fed  on  by  cunning  parasites  whose 
chief  aim  was  to  keep  the  people  ignorant  of  their  rights 
and  true  to  the  ways  their  fathers  trod.  The  people 
never  had  economic  freedom,  opportunity  did  not  knock 
at  their  door,  for  landlordism  and  bureaucracy  had 
banished  it  from  the  land.  They  were  born  to  a  certain 
social  status,  and  were  expected  to  stay  in  it  during  life. 
Their  lives  were  spent  in  penury  and  stupidity.  It  was 
the  lot  assigned  them  by  divine  arrangement,  and  to 
break  away  from  it  or  to  complain  of  its  hardship  and 
limitations  was  to  tempt  Providence.  What  likely 
manhood  and  womanhood  could  grow  under  such  con- 
ditions ?  The  surprise  is  that  they  had  will  power  enough 
to  make  up  their  minds  to  migrate  to  a  land  where  they 
could  make  better  use  of  their  God-given  powers.  Thou- 
sands of  them  have  made  something  of  themselves 
besides  clodhoppers ;  they  are  rising  to  the  stature  of  men 
and  women  of  a  self-governing  nation ;  they  are  copying 
the  American  type ;  they  hold  it  with  reverence  and  glad- 
ness before  their  children  ;  and  what  they  need  more  than 
anything  else  are  men  and  women  who  have  faith  in  them 
—  faith  firm  and  strong  that  even  from  this  unlikely  ma- 
terial America  can  raise  sons  and  daughters  to  democracy. 

The  Americanization  worker  must  have  this  faith,  else 


THE  AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  41 

he  cannot  do  the  work  to  which  he  is  called.  And  not  only 
must  he  himself  have  this  faith,  but  he  must  also  impart 
it  to  others  who  have  forgotten  the  rock  whence  they  were 
hewn.  Men  of  native  birth  and  of  native  parentage  have 
departed  from  the  faith  of  their  fathers  and  aligned 
themselves  with  the  philosophy  of  India,  which  teaches 
the  caste  system ;  they  believe  in  divine  right  and  despise 
common  clay ;  they  look  with  contempt  upon  the  "  for- 
eigners "  as  hewers  of  wood  and  carriers  of  water.  Ninety 
per  cent  of  the  immigrants  belong  to  this  lowly  class,  and 
upon  these  they  look  with  disdain.  The  ten  per  cent  of 
immigrants  who  are  highly  skilled  workers  or  professional 
men  are  more  inclined  toward  aristocracy  than  democracy. 
Much  snobbishness  is  found  among  imported  aristocrats 
as  well  as  among  the  non-American  Americans.  Their 
faith  may  best  be  illustrated  by  the  comment  of  a  German 
of  Prussian  ancestry,  who  kept  in  shelter  in  New  York 
when  his  friends  were  conducting  the  "  successful  retreat  " 
to  Berlin.  This  man  was  cultured  and  intelligent,  and 
felt  that  the  power  once  wielded  by  autocracy  in  Ger- 
many was  hopelessly  lost ;  when  the  establishment  of  a 
democracy  was  hinted  at,  his  comment  was :  "  What 
can  the  common  herd  do ;  they  are  like  so  many  cows ; 
the  brutes  know  as  much  about  government  as  they  do." 
This  un-American  state  of  mind  is  found  in  Americans. 
The  foreign-born  have  suffered  because  of  it,  and  although 
it  has  materially  diminished  in  force  and  venom  in  the 
last  five  years,  it  is  still  too  common.  The  Ameri- 
canization worker  will  take  account  of  this  and  plan  to 


42  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

bring  the  message  of  Americanization  to  native-born 
persons  who  need  it. 

The  Americanization  worker  must  also  keep  in  mind 
the  antipathy  of  the  English-speaking  worker,  of  both 
native  and  foreign  birth,  to  the  foreign-speaking.  The 
worker  of  British,  Irish,  or  Canadian  stock  has  as  deep- 
rooted  prejudice  against  the  foreign-speaking  as  the 
native-born.  The  roots  of  this  antagonism  are  buried 
in  economic  conflict,  and  in  varying  standards  of  living. 
The  English-speaking  worker  believes  that  this  man  dis- 
turbs the  labor  market,  undercuts  him,  makes  it  impossible 
for  labor  to  present  a  united  front  to  capital,  is  satisfied 
to  work  under  conditions  that  are  wholly  unsatisfactory 
to  "  white  men/'  and  is  a  constant  menace  to  the  American 
standard  of  living.  It  is  for  these  reasons  that  the 
Englishrspeaking  worker  is  unsympathetic  toward  and 
suspicious  of  the  "  foreigner."  He  is  afraid  that  the 
foreigners  will  lower  wages  and  pull  down  working  con- 
ditions. Who  does  not  sympathize  with  the  native-born 
wage-earner  in  this  conflict  ?  Man  cannot  live  on  bread 
alone ;  but  when  men  of  varying  standards  of  living 
compete  with  one  another,  invariably  the  man  with  the 
lower  standard  wins. 

There  is  much  to  justify  this  state  of  mind  in  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking worker.  If,  however,  the  program  of  the 
Americanization  director  is  to  succeed,  the  sympathy  of 
the  English-speaking  worker  must  be  enlisted.  This 
can  best  be  done  by  emphasizing  the  fact  of  the  inter- 
national character  of  labor.  The  native-born  worker 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   DIRECTOR  43 

knows  that,  willy-nilly,  he  must  compete  with  foreign- 
speaking  wage-earners.  The  whole  world  is  bound  by 
steel  and  copper  into  onex  common  brotherhood,  and  if 
American  wage-earners  will  not  fraternize  with  the 
foreign-speaking  wage-earners  in  America,  they  will  have 
to  compete  with  the  product  of  their  labor  in  American 
markets  as  well  as  in  the  markets  of  the  world.  The 
products  of  the  shops  of  Japan,  of  the  furnaces  of  China, 
of  the  manufacturing  concerns  of  the  Continent,  find  their 
way  to  the  markets  of  America. 

The  manufacturers  of  America  are  demanding  a  merchant 
marine,  and  their  prime  argument  is  that  we  are  an  indus- 
trial nation  and  must  send  our  goods  to  the  markets  of  the 
world.  That  means  that  the  products  of  American  labor 
will  compete  with  the  products  of  wage-earners  in  every 
industrial  country  in  the  world.  These  facts  emphasize 
the  inevitable  interdependence  of  labor  the  world  over. 
The  native-born  worker  recognizes  this,  and  especially 
has  it  been  emphasized  in  the  years  of  the  World  War. 
The  workers  of  the  world  are  destined  to  be  brought  into 
closer  union,  and  the  common  interests  of  all  must  be  con- 
sidered. In  view  of  this,  is  it  not  a  step  in  the  right  direction 
for  wage-earners  in  the  United  States  to  show  friendly  feel- 
ing and  sympathy  toward  the  fifty  varieties  of  workers 
in  the  United  States  ?  The  amelioration  of  the  condition 
of  the  workers  of  the  world  is  largely  in  the  hands  of 
American  wage-earners,  and  the  only  foundation  it  can 
safely  rest  on  is  cosmopolitan  cooperation  and  sympathy. 

The  Americanization  worker  can  help  to  bring  about 


44  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

that  better  day  by  directing  the  thoughts  of  the  English- 
speaking  wage-earners  along  these  lines.  Sympathy 
with  and  friendly  feeling  for  the  foreign-born  will  bless 
him  who  gives  and  him  who  receives.  To  all  those 
workers  in  America  who  believe  in  religious  ideals,  the 
higher  claims  of  spiritual  values  in  men  of  all  races  and 
creeds  will  suffice.  A  large  percentage  of  workers  in 
America  worship  at  altars  where  men  of  fifty  varieties 
are  found  kneeling.  If  their  faith  is  genuine,  their 
penetration  to  its  meaning  thorough,  and  the  significance 
of  a  common  Father  understood,  they  will  not  find  any 
difficulty  in  fraternizing  with  these  men. 

REFERENCES 

HUMAN  NATURE  IN  POLITICS  :  Graham  Wallas,  Part  II,  Chapter 

IV. 
RACE  FACTORS  IN  DEMOCRACY  :    Philip  A.  Means,   Chapter 

VIL 

RUSSIA  IN  UPHEAVAL  :  E.  A.  Ross,  Chapter  VI. 
ITALIAN  CHARACTERS  :  Countess  Martinengo-Cesaresco. 
ITALIANS  OP  TO-DAY  :  Richard  Bagot. 
THE  SLAVS  OF  THE  WAR  ZONE  :  W.  F.  Bailey. 
RACE  QUESTIONS  AND  PREJUDICES  :  Josiah  Royce. 
THE  NEW  FAR  EAST  :  Thomas  F.  Millard. 
THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  LITHUANIAN  NATION:    Kunigas  An- 

tanas  Jusaitis. 

THE  SLOVAKS  IN  AMERICA  :  Thomas  Capek. 
WHO  ARE  THE  SLAVS?  :  Paul  R.  Radosavljevich. 


CHAPTER  m 
THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  FOREIGN-BORN 

BEGINNERS  invariably  ask :  What  shall  we  do  first 
in  Americanization  work  ?  Where  shall  we  begin  ?  What 
are  the  first  steps  ?  This  chapter  is  an  attempt  to  answer 
these  questions. 

Scores  of  men  engaged  in  Americanization  work  have 
made  their  way  to  the  hearts  of  foreign-born  men  because 
of  their  native  goodness  and  sympathetic  nature.  They 
were  pioneers  in  the  work,  had  no  experience  to  guide 
them,  but  they  made  good  because  of  their  strong  common 
sense  and  their  unfeigned  sympathy  for  humanity.  No 
matter  how  much  teaching  and  training  a  man  has,  if  he 
does  not  possess  a  large  amount  of  horse  sense,  a  genuine 
love  of  humanity,  he  will  never  be  able  to  find  the  path 
which  leads  to  the  hearts  of  the  fifty  varieties  of  immi- 
grants in  the  United  States. 

All  men  are  not  alike ;  we  differ  in  customs  and  habits, 
and  the  Americanization  worker  will  soon  find  this  out. 
He  must,  however,  be  prepared  to  help  all  classes  of  foreign- 
born  men  in  a  community.  He  will  see  housing  conditions 
which  are  a  disgrace  to  twentieth-century  standards ;  he 
will  meet  men  who  either  do  not  know  how  or  do  not  care 
to  observe  sanitary  rules  in  eating;  and  some  who  take 

45 


46  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

pride  in  dirt  and  coarseness  rather  than  in  cleanliness 
and  refinement.  The  earnest  worker  cannot  afford  to  be 
fastidious,  he  must  be  inured  to  the  objectionable  environ- 
ment or  the  distasteful  habit  for  the  sake  of  the  man  whom 
he  serves.  A  passion  for  humanity  dominates  his  life, 
and  he  is  willing  to  endure  all  things,  if  only  he  may  bring 
men  and  women  to  American  standards.  Taking  for 
granted,  then,  good  judgment  and  love  of  humanity  — 
God-given  qualities  which  no  education  can  instill  —  the 
following  points  will  help  the  director  qualified  by  nature 
to  do  Americanization  work  : 

1.  Know  the  Field.  Know  the  nations  living  in  the 
city  where  you  serve ;  find  out  from  what  part  of  the  world 
they  came;  see  where  they  live  and  where  they  work. 
Do  this  wisely  and  judiciously,  and  don't  spend  too 
long  at  it.  You  should  begin  constructive  work  as  soon 
as  possible. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  a  man  to  spend  a  month  to  find 
out  all  the  facts  about  his  foreign-born  neighbors  before 
he  begins  work.  If  he  attacks  the  question  in  a  large 
city,  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  to  know  all  the  foreign- 
born  population  of  that  city  before  beginning  work.  It 
is  better  for  him  to  divide  the  city  into  sections  and  to 
study  one  section  at  a  time  ;  when  he  knows  enough  about 
the  foreign-born  living  in  that  part  of  the  city,  he  should 
begin  work  —  let  him  start  something.  When  the  work 
is  well  started  and  faithful  volunteer  helpers  are  put  in 
charge  of  it,  he  can  then  attack  another  section  and  do  the 
same.  Every  big  city  is  an  aggregation  of  small  centers, 


THE   APPROACH  TO   THE   FOREIGN-BORN  47 

and  the  magnitude  of  the  problem  loses  its  terror  when 
attacked  piecemeal. 

In  grouping  the  foreign-born  it  is  well  to  divide  them 
into  the  two  main  divisions :  the  northwestern  and  the 
southeastern  Europeans.  There  are  groups  which  can- 
not be  squeezed  into  either  of  these,  such  as  the  Asiatics, 
the  Indians,  the  Africans,  and  the  Malays.  These  groups 
are,  however,  in  the  minority  and  will,  in  the  industrial 
centers  of  the  country,  except  on  the  coast,  form  the  minor 
part  of  the  task  confronting  the  Americanization  worker. 
The  peoples  of  South  America,  of  Mexico,  and  of  Canada, 
with  rare  exceptions,  will  fall  into  the  one  or  the  other  of 
the  two  main  divisions.  The  reason  why  this  division  is 
advocated  is  the  difference  between  the  peoples  who  come 
from  these  two  sections  of  Europe.  It  is  a  difference  in 
civilization  due  to  the  cultural  environment  and  industrial 
development  of  the  several  sections  of  the  Continent. 
The  Turk  and  the  Scandinavian  differ  in  culture,  in 
industrial  training,  in  political  ideas,  in  standards  of 
living,  in  social  customs,  in  religious  usages,  and  in 
ethical  concepts.  All  this  has  much  to  do  with  the 
Americanization  program. 

The  best  source  of  information  as  to  the  number  and 
the  character  of  the  foreign-born  will  be  the  census.  The 
director  should  not  pass  by  the  federal  census  because  it 
is  a  few  years  old.  It  has  its  value  until  the  new  one 
appears.  The  information  is  generally  found  in  the 
volume  on  population  under  the  caption  of  place  of 
birth.  Some  states  take  a  census  every  fifth  year  of  each 


48  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

decade,  thus  supplementing  that  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment. These  two  sources  will  give  the  approximate 
foreign-born  population  of  cities  of  twenty-five  thousand 
population  and  over.  The  number  will  not  be  accurate, 
for  no  census,  however  carefully  taken,  is  accurate  the  day 
after  it  is  taken.  It  is  a  guide  which  the  worker  cannot 
do  without,  and  it  is  the  best  available.  Other  supple- 
mentary information  is  needed.  This  may  be  secured 
by  investigation. 

If  a  foreign  newspaper  is  printed  in  town,  the  editor 
knows  fairly  accurately  the  number  of  his  countrymen 
in  the  city.  The  postmaster  often  knows  much  about 
the  foreign-born  people  in  town ;  the  mail  carrier  whose 
route  is  in  that  section  of  the  city  where  the  foreign  colony 
is  knows  more.  The  leaders  of  the  respective  nationalities 
should  be  interviewed.  The  priest  or  pastor  of  the  foreign 
church  will  know  how  many  families  he  has  in  that  parish. 
Storekeepers  in  the  neighborhood  will  know  the  people. 
The  political  satellite  in  charge  of  that  ward  will  be  able 
to  tell  what  is  the  foreign  vote.  All  these  sources  of  in- 
formation will  help.  Of  course,  the  several  estimates  will 
not  tally,  and  the  worker  must  compare  the  figures  with 
those  of  the  census  and  make  his  own  deductions.  But 
better  than  exact  figures  are  the  contacts  he  has  made. 

2.  Know  Where  the  Foreign-born  Work.  Outside 
the  influence  of  family,  work  and  working  conditions  have 
most  to  do  in  shaping  the  thought  and  life  of  the  immi- 
grants. Many  foreigners  work  shifts  of  ten  and  twelve 
hours,  and  sometimes  fourteen  hours.  They  follow  the 


THE   APPROACH   TO   THE   FOREIGN-BORN  49 

instruction  of  an  English-speaking  workman  or  English- 
speaking  boss.  They  are  under  command  and  no  body 
of  men  is  better  disciplined  to  obedience  and  hard  work. 
This  very  dependence  of  the  foreign-born  on  the  English- 
speaking  workmen  or  management  disposes  them  to  take 
their  ideas  of  America  from  the  conduct  of  or  the  treat- 
ment received  from  these  men.  Every  foreign-born  man 
coming  to  America  has  a  high  ideal  of  this  country ;  if 
these  ideals  are  abandoned,  it  is  due  to  their  being  torn 
to  shreds  by  unjust  and  sometimes  cruel  treatment. 

No  one  can  shape  the  f  oreign-born's  ideas  of  America  as 
can  the  English-speaking  foreman  and  fellow  workman. 
The  tone  and  the  conduct  of  the  foreman  can  destroy  the 
foreigner's  love  for  America  or  make  him  long  to  be  identi- 
fied with  the  country.  It  is  often  a  fact  that  the  first 
English  words  learned  by  the  foreign-born  are  curse  words. 
When  they  begin  to  talk  English,  every  other  word  is  an 
oath  of  some  sort.  When  they  wish  to  express  themselves 
strongly,  it  is  in  a  flow  of  profanity  more  gross  and  vulgar 
than  any  used  by  the  men  from  whom  they  learned  to 
swear.  Of  course,  they  do  not  know  the  meaning  of  the 
words  they  use  and  imagine  they  are  doing  a  clever  thing 
when  using  them,  for  the  American  laughs  at  them.  They 
were  not  accustomed  to  such  profanity  in  the  Old  World  ; 
they  believe  that  they  are  being  Americanized  by  copying 
the  profanity  of  foul-tongued  fellow  workers. 

It  is  also  well  known  that  unscrupulous  foremen  im- 
pose upon  the  foreign-born  by  not  paying  them  the  stand- 
ard wage.  These  bosses  take  advantage  of  the  ignorance 


50  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

of  the  alien  and  pride  themselves  on  the  supposed  fact 
that  he  does  not  know  better.  In  many  instances  this 
is  the  case,  but  the  men  do  not  remain  long  in  their  igno- 
rance ;  when  they  find  out  that  they  have  been  the  victims 
of  a  hard  and  unscrupulous  taskmaster,  the  impression 
will  not  be  easily  obliterated.  Bodily  scars  received  in 
the  mines  go  with  the  man -to  the  grave,  and  many  scars 
inflicted  on  the  mind  of  the  foreign-born  by  coarse  and 
conscienceless  men  in  positions  of  responsibility  are  not 
removed  as  long  as  the  men  live.  Foremen  and  the 
English-speaking  workmen  guilty  of  inflicting  wounds  of 
this  nature  ought  to  be  the  objects  of  as  zealous  treatment 
as  the  foreign-born  ;  indeed,  of  the  two  groups  under  con- 
sideration, the  English-speaking  is  farther  removed  from 
American  democratic  ideals  than  the  foreign-born,  and 
need  more  careful  attention,  for  they  hinder  the  progress 
of  Americanization  in  the  industry. 

The  Americanization  worker  familiar  with  working  con- 
ditions among  foreigners  will  find  them  doing  the  chores 
in  the  industries,  that  is,  the  unskilled  work.  It  cannot 
be  otherwise,  for  the  vast  majority  have  no  mechanical 
skill.  They  work  in  dirt  and  dust,  in  heat  and  steam,  in 
vapor  and  water,  and  the  question  of  Americanization  is 
often  involved  in  the  question  of  conditions  of  employ- 
ment. Men  who  work  long  hours  under  conditions  that 
are  enervating  to  the  strongest  men,  will  not  attend  eve- 
ning classes.  Men  who  work  eight  hours  can  be  organ- 
ized for  educational  work. 

What  the  Americanization  worker  should  know  is  the 


THE   APPROACH  TO   THE   FOREIGN-BORN  51 

conditions  under  which  the  foreigners  whom  he  serves 
work,  in  order  that  he  may  know  what  to  expect.  Men 
who  work  around  vats  in  a  sugar  refinery  for  twelve  hours 
out  of  every  twenty-four  will  not  sit  in  class  for  another 
two  hours  to  learn  English,  no  matter  how  much  they  need 
the  instruction.  Men  who  work  around  blast  furnaces 
or  who  are  employed  around  coke  ovens  for  twelve  hours 
a  day  may  not  work  very  hard,  but  they  will  not  come  to 
classes  to  study.  The  director  will  do  well  to  visit  the 
industries  employing  aliens,  see  what  work  they  do,  what 
are  the  working  conditions,  and  what  are  the  hours  the 
men  work ;  this  knowledge  will  help  him  in  Americaniza- 
tion work,  for  then  he  will  know  what  to  expect  from  the 
men  whom  he  hopes  to  teach. 

The  worker  who  knows  what  work  men  and  women  do 
will  be  able  to  adapt  the  material  used  in  the  classroom 
to  meet  their  need.  The  foreign-born  is  very  practical. 
He  wants  what  is  useful.  The  same  principle  dominates 
his  quest  after  education.  He  wants  that  which  he  can 
use  in  his  daily  life.  The  teacher  in  charge  of  American- 
ization work,  who  knows  the  work  life  of  the  foreign-born, 
can  prepare  material  to  supplement  the  written  lesson 
which  will  interest  the  student.  Many  teachers  fall  down 
right  here.  They  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  work  or 
the  working  conditions  of  the  immigrant  coming  to  night 
school.  Schoolbooks  often  used  to  teach  foreigners  the 
English  language  contain  nothing  that  deals  with  the 
work  life  of  the  men.  They  are  not  tradesmen,  they 
are  not  skilled  workers,  they  are  men  engaged  in  coarse 


52  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

work  of  great  variety,  and  no  one  book  contains  material 
that  is  of  interest  to  the  many  types  of  unskilled  workers. 

The  promoter  should  study  the  work  life  of  foreign- 
born  men  and  women  in  the  city  and  discover  material 
which  he  knows  the  men  need,  put  it  in  proper  form,  and 
in  the  normal  course  given  the  teachers  and  workers,  bring 
it  to  their  attention  and  tell  them  how  best  to  use  it.  If  the 
students  are  men  employed  in  the  copper  mines  of  Calumet, 
they  need  to  learn  mining  terms,  the  names  of  tools  used, 
the  process  of  mining,  and  working  regulations.  These 
are  very  different  from  the  terms  used,  the  tools  handled, 
and  the  methods  of  work  in  mining  coal.  When  we  studied 
the  terms  used  in  the  bituminous  coal  fields  of  Pennsylvania 
as  compared  with  those  used  in  the  anthracite  fields  in  the 
same  state,  we  found  that  two  sets  of  lessons  were  neces- 
sary. All  illiterates  are  anxious  to  write  their  names,  the 
addresses  of  their  houses,  the  names  of  the  firms  for  which 
they  work,  the  towns  in  which  they  live,  and  the  words 
United  States  America.  These  are  local  matters  and 
must  be  attended  to  by  the  director. 

The  men  in  classes  will  be  glad  to  see  the  Americaniza- 
tion director  at  their  places  of  work.  As  stated  in  an  earlier 
part  of  this  chapter,  he  should  not  delay  the  actual  work 
of  helping  men  until  he  has  completed  a  thorough  investi- 
gation. Let  him  begin  work  as  soon  as  possible,  and  while 
projecting  constructive  work  keep  up  his  investigation. 
He  will  possibly  know  many  foreigners  before  he  knows 
anything  about  their  working  conditions.  When  he  visits 
the  industries,  he  will  know  many  men  and  meet  them  at 


THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  FOREIGN-BORN          53 

their  work;  they  will  be  glad  to  see  him.  This  should 
be  the  ambition  of  every  Americanization  promoter;  he 
should  be  known  in  the  industry  as  well  as  in  the  class- 
room. It  is  only  by  bringing  these  two  institutions  to- 
gether —  work  and  school  —  that  the  Americanization 
director  can  be  of  practical  benefit  to  the  foreign-born. 
When  the  leader  in  Americanism  in  a  city  is  as  well  known 
in  the  shop  as  in  the  school,  in  the  factory  as  in  the  forum, 
in  the  mill  as  in  the  community  meeting,  then  will  the 
best  work  be  done  for  the  foreign-born  men  and  boys. 

3.  Know  the  Foreign  Colony.  The  Americanization 
worker  should  know  the  section  of  the  city  in  which  the 
foreign-born  live.  He  should  be  acquainted  with  their 
housing  conditions,  and  know  what  possibilities  their 
particular  section  offers  to  house  the  activities  of  the 
proposed  program. 

To  learn  how  the  foreign-born  are  housed  is  important, 
for  then  the  worker  can  find  much  material  for  suggestion 
in  the  classroom.  Immigrants  live  in  neither  the  best 
houses  nor  in  the  best  localities  in  town.  Towns  wholly 
made  up  of  immigrants  are  often  unsightly  and  nasty. 
This  is  the  case  in  many  mining  camps  and  communities. 
Manville  in  New  Jersey,  Barberton  in  Ohio,  Chicopee 
in  Massachusetts,  etc.,  have  not  much  to  recommend 
them.  In  cities  of  industrial  importance  such  as  Detroit, 
Fall  River,  and  Passaic,  the  foreign-born  live  in  those 
parts  of  the  city  which  are  the  oldest.  These  sections  were 
once  inhabited  by  the  English-speaking  people  who  have 
moved  to  better  dwellings  and  a  more  desirable  neighbor- 


54  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

hood.  It  is  not  unusual  to  find  many  families  of 
immigrants  living  in  a  house  built  for  one  family.  Life 
under  such  conditions  is  not  what  it  ought  to  be,  and  in 
many  instances  decency  and  proper  standards  cannot  be 
observed.  The  Americanization  worker  should  be  ac- 
quainted with  conditions,  and  a  lecture  given  to  the  foreign 
group  upon  the  danger  of  congestion  in  tenement  houses 
will  help  them. 

Many  foreigners  live  in  housjes  which  should  not  stand 
in  a  civilized  community.  Town  authorities,  if  moved  by 
humane  considerations,  would  condemn  them  as  unfit 
for  human  occupation.  Public  conscience  is  awakening 
on  this  question,  but  it  is  far  from  being  really  awake  yet. 
It  is  a  mistake  to  imagine  that  the  foreigners  do  not  feel 
the  contempt  in  which  they  are  held  when  consigned  to 
live  in  dwellings  not  fit  to  shelter  beasts  of  burden.  When 
I  interviewed  a  priest  and  asked  him  about  the  housing 
of  his  parishioners,  he  said :  "  Come  with  me  and  I  will 
show  you."  He  took  me  to  places  that  would  be  purga- 
tory enough  for  the  sins  of  a  lifetime  to  have  to  live  in 
them  —  they  were  dirty,  rickety,  dingy,  dark,  and  crowded 
apartments,  and  the  tenants  paid  four  dollars  a  week  per 
room  rent. 

The  director  asks  :  What  shall  I  do  ?  Rush  to  print  ? 
No.  Bring  these  things  to  the  attention  of  the  proper 
people.  A  public-spirited  director  did  this,  and  the  result 
is  new  houses,  commodious,  sanitary,  reasonable  in  rent, 
erected  for  the  foreign-born.  In  another  instance,  a 
worker  studied  the  housing  conditions  of  the  section  of 


THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  FOREIGN-BORN  55 

town  occupied  by  the  foreign-born,  got  the  facts  well  in 
hand,  and  rushed  to  print.  The  immediate  result  was 
malodorous  publicity  regarding  community  conditions  and 
censure  of  the  manufacturers.  All  the  town  was  angry,  the 
director  had  to  leave,  the  tempest  lasted  a  few  days,  and 
to-day  the  wretched  housing  condition  of  the  foreign- 
speaking  is  exactly  what  it  was  years  ago.  I  do  not  pre- 
tend to  say  what  is  the  duty  of  the  Americanization 
director  when  face  to  face  with  housing  conditions  among 
foreigners  that  are  unsanitary,  inhuman,  un-Christian, 
but  the  point  I  wish  to  make  is  that  he  ought  to  know  how 
the  foreign-born  live,  in  order  to  bring  to  their  attention 
the  housing  standard  which  is  considered  the  minimum 
under  which  men  in  the  twentieth  century  should  live. 
The  worker  should  also  learn  what  possibilities  the  for- 
eign colony  affords  for  housing  the  activities  he  projects. 
He  needs  rooms  for  classes  in  English  .and  natural- 
ization ;\he  needs  a  place  to  give  a  lecture,  hold  an  enter- 
tainment, etc.  These  can  best  be  given  in  the  neighbor- 
hood where  the  foreign-born  live,  and  in  places  frequented 
by  them.  Some  towns  planning  work  for  aliens  have 
tried  to  concentrate  it  in  one  place  —  the  high  school 
for  instance.  The  high  school,  if  centrally  located,  is  far 
removed  from  where  the  foreign-born  live,  and  these  men 
and  women  will  not  walk  a  mile  to  classes  in  English. 
Classes  should  be  opened  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  homes 
where  they  live, — in  the  public  school  in  the  foreign  colony 
or  in  the  lodge  hall.  If  the  neighborhood  is  searched 
diligently,  many  useful  places  will  be  found. 


56  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

The  places  I  have  found  available  have  been  varied : 
the  hall  in  the  rear  of  the  drinking  place ;  the  cooperative 
hall ;  the  lodge  room ;  the  rear  of  a.  store ;  the  dining 
room  of  a  boarding  house;  an  empty  house;  a  vacant 
store ;  a  barber  shop  after  working  hours  ;  a  shoe-shining 
parlor  after  working  hours ;  the  parochial  school ;  the 
church  hall ;  the  public  school ;  the  recreational  center. 
Of  course,  the  group  brought  together  is  small;  the 
number  in  a  class  should  not  be  more  than  ten  or  fifteen ; 
the  dressing  room  of  a  public  hall  has  often  afforded 
room  enough  for  a  class. 

I  have  always  found  foreign-born  men  most  willing  to 
cooperate.  Refreshment  and  restaurant  keepers  have 
willingly  put  the  hall  or  a  room  at  the  service  of  the  pro- 
moter. Priests  cooperate  by  giving  the  use  of  church 
halls  and  parochial  schoolrooms.  Men  who  have  empty 
stores  are  willing  to  rent  them  at  reasonable  rentals,  and 
in  some  instances  have  given  the  use  of  a  room  or  two  free 
of  charge,  with  the  understanding  that  they  will  be  vacated 
when  the  landlord  secures  a  tenant.  When  the  work  is 
put  on  a  patriotic  basis,  few  indeed  are  the  men  who  are 
not  willing  to  aid. 

The  use  of  the  public  school  is  commended.  The  one 
great  trouble  is  the  equipment ;  it  is  designed  for  the  use 
of  children,  and  when  used  by  adults  it  is  neither  comfort- 
able nor  conducive  to  study.  The  classrooms  for  the 
higher  grades  are  tolerable  for  certain  groups,  but  when 
Slavs  and  Magyars  are  put  in  rooms  used  by  fourth  and 
fifth  grade  pupils,  conditions  are  not  favorable  to  study. 


THE  APPROACH   TO   THE   FOREIGN-BORN  57 

In  some  schools,  in  sections  inhabited  by  immigrants,  the 
school  population  is  so  large  that  the  children  can  be  taught 
only  in  the  first  five  grades ;  they  must  be  taken  elsewhere 
for  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  grade  work.  In  these 
schools,  men  studying  English  must  sit  at  desks  made  for 
children  of  ten  or  eleven  years.  This  means  physical 
discomfort,  and  the  men  will  not  study  under  such  con- 
ditions, although  they  would  gladly  learn  our  language. 
We  also  find  in  many  places  a  prejudice  in  the  mind  of 
foreigners  against  assembling  for  instruction  in  buildings 
devoted  to  the  instruction  of  children. 

The  Americanization  director  by  careful  study  of  the 
community  will  find  many  available  places  to  carry  on  his 
work.  If  the  foreign-born  is  to  be  Americanized,  he  must 
be  given  a  place  that  is  convenient  and  fairly  well  equipped 
to  meet  the  needs  of  men. 

4.  Know  the  Club  Life  of  Immigrants.  The  Ameri- 
canization worker  should  study  the  club  life  of  the  foreign- 
born.  The  variety  of  clubs  is  great.  Most  nationalities 
have  organizations  that  are  national  in  their  scope. 
This  is  the  case  with  the  Poles,  Italians,  Lithuanians, 
Slovenes,  Greeks;  etc.  These  societies  are  headed  by 
men  of  patriotic  sentiment,  who  sympathize  with  the 
program  of  Americanization.  In  the  Polish  National 
Alliance  no  one  can  be  a  national  officer  who  is  not  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States ;  the  same  is  true  of  branch  offi- 
cers ;  and  delegates  to  national  conventions  must  be  citi- 
zens. The  order  also  urges  all  its  members  to  become 
citizens,  and  the  national  leaders  in  convention  and  other- 


58 

wise  put  before  the  members  the  advantages  to  be  derived 
from  citizenship.  The  Slovak  National  Society  has  in 
its  constitution  a  clause  urging  all  its  members  to  learn 
English  and  become  citizens  of  the  United  States.  Italian 
leaders,  in  the  national  society,  the  United  Sons  of  Italy, 
advocate  the  same,  and  some  branches  are  actively  pro- 
moting citizen  clubs. 

In  many  instances  the  men  at  the  head  of  branch  or- 
ganizations are  anxious  to  get  outside  aid,  and  when  a 
practical  program  is  submitted,  they  welcome  it  most 
cordially.  Few  indeed  are  the  instances  where  this  is 
not  the  state  of  mind  of  the  leaders.  I  remember  a  branch 
of  the  Hungarian  Society  which  gave  a  hearty  welcome  to 
the  program  when  presented  ;  the  men  agreed  to  give  me 
a  hearing  the  following  Sunday  when  the  members  came 
together.  On  Sunday  I  could  not  get  into  the  lodge.  A 
lawyer  —  a  politician  —  blocked  my  entrance  to  the  meet- 
ing. It  is  possible  for  sinister  leaders  to  defeat  the  work 
of  Americanization  through  fear  of  losing  their  influence 
when  enlightened  agencies  enter.  Taken  as  a  whole,  the 
leaders  of  branches  of  national  organizations  are  favorably 
disposed  to  a  sane  program  of  Americanization ;  the  na- 
tional leaders  are  invariably  so. 

There  are  many  other  kinds  of  societies  among  the 
foreign-born.  Most  of  them  are  benevolent  associations, 
having,  besides  the  weekly  benefits  paid,  an  insurance 
feature.  Besides  these  benefit  societies,  there  are  the 
Falcons  among  the  Poles,  the  Sokols  among  the  Czechs, 
and  the  Turnverein  among  the  Germans.  These  societies 


THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  FOREIGN-BORN  59 

are  composed  of  young  men  who  meet  for  athletics  as  well 
as  for  social  functions.  They  are  invariably  sympathetic 
with  the  Americanization  program,  and  welcome  the  help 
the  Americanization  promoter  can  give.  Some  nationali- 
ties have  clubs  for  self-improvement  and  culture.  These 
are  found  among  the  Poles,  Lithuanians,  Slovaks,  Finns, 
Bohemians,  Jews,  Russians,  and  others. 

Within  recent  years  many  foreign-born  men  have  or- 
ganized clubs.  They  are  found  chiefly  among  the  Slavs 
and  Finns.  I  have  gone  into  these  clubs  and  found  wel- 
come. The  leaders  are  alert  and  intelligent.  They  know 
that  they  and  their  people  are  handicapped  as  long  as 
they  do  not  have  command  of  the  language  of  the  United 
States,  and  they  are  very  eager  to  secure  outside  help  to 
learn  it.  They  are  also  anxious  to  learn  all  they  can  about 
the  American  form  of  government,  and  are  keen  on  ques- 
tions of  history.  The  Americanization  director  should 
not  keep  away  from  these  clubs.  The  better  way  is  to 
visit  them,  install  classes,  give  lectures,  and  conduct  dis- 
cussions, for  the  greater  the  light  the  less  dangerous  the 
program  of  radicalism.  If  the  free  atmosphere  of  Amer- 
icanism penetrates  these  clubs,  largely  made  up  of  radi- 
cals, the  dangerous  forms  of  radicalism  will  disappear. 

Some  foreign-born  peoples  have  political  clubs  which 
are  ephemeral  in  character.  Most  of  them  are  organized 
before  election  for  the  purpose  of  marshaling  the  foreign 
vote;  soon  after  the  polling  is  over  the  club  disbands. 
In  some  cities  I  have  found  political  clubs  of  a  permanent 
character;  all  the  members  are  citizens  and  the  leaders 


60  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

carry  on  an  active  campaign  to  increase  the  membership 
of  the  club  from  among  their  countrymen.  Many  of  the 
leaders  are  political  aspirants  and  know  that  the  larger 
the  club  the  greater  their  influence  in  the  community. 
In  order  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  men  on  the  way  to  be- 
come citizens,  they  open  the  door  of  the  club  to  men  who 
have  made  their  declarations  of  intention  to  become  citi- 
zens. 

The  approach  to  these  clubs  is  through  the  officers. 
The  promoter  will  find  out  who  these  men  are,  put  his 
program  before  them,  state  exactly  what  he  is  willing  to 
do,  and  if  possible  arrange  a  date  on  which  he  can  put  his 
program  before  the  members.  When  he  puts  the  pro- 
gram before  the  members,  let  him  emphasize  the  impor- 
tance of  learning  English,  the  advantages  of  becoming 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  the  economic  oppor- 
tunities America  offers  to  them  and  to  their  children. 
A  demonstration  of  how  English  is  taught,  a  lecture  on 
the  country  from  which  the  men  have  come,  a  few  songs, 
etc.,  are  also  conducive  to  winning  the  men  to  the  adop- 
tion of  the  program.  In  many  instances,  when  the  priest 
or  pastor  is  favorable  to  the  program,  the  men  may  be 
called  together  by  him ;  if  he  urges  the  men  to  organize 
for  Americanization,  the  work  will  have  a  good  start. 

In  dealing  with  the  men  be  as  definite  as  possible. 
Settle  upon  the  night  on  which  to  meet.  Let  it  be  the 
leader's  duty  to  bring  the  men  together.  Keep  in  touch 
with  the  leaders  until  the  group  is  secured  and  active. 
Keep  the  leaders  "  sweet "  by  putting  responsibility  on 


THE   APPROACH   TO  THE   FOREIGN-BORN  61 

them  and  magnifying  them.  More  will  be  said  on  this  sub- 
ject in  the  chapter  on  conducting  classes.  My  point  now 
is  that  the  leaders  of  clubs  are  the  men  through  whom  we 
must  make  our  approach  to  the  clubs  and  societies  of  the 
foreign-born. 

5.  Guard  against  Prejudice,  Curiosity,  and  Sensa- 
tionalism. The  Americanization  worker  should  throw 
away  prejudice  and  idle  curiosity.  Few  men  live  who  are 
free  from  prejudice.  It  is  in  the  blood.  We  must  guard 
against  it. 

In  no  civilized  country  is  race  prejudice  as  strong  as 
in  America,  and  the  reason  for  this  is  that  in  no  other 
civilized  country  is  there  such  a  mixture  of  races.  I 
visited  the  Hull  Department  of  the  New  York  Shipbuild- 
ing Company  and  found  there  men  of  forty-two  different 
nationalities.  In  no  other  shipyard  outside  the  United 
States  is  such  a  cosmopolitan  group  found.  This  is  the  case 
in  every  industrial  center  in  America  located  north  of  the 
Ohio  River.  Our  immigrants  have  come  from  every  conti- 
nent and  from  every  clime.  In  no  other  country  do  ex- 
tremes of  civilization  meet  as  in  America.  Beside  the 
skilled  Swede  stands  the  White  Russian  from  the  banks  of 
the  Upper  Dneiper ;  assisting  an  English  skilled  worker  I 
have  seen  a  Turk,  who  was  as  stolid  and  stupid  as  any  im- 
migrant who  ever  crossed  the  seas.  The  Englishman  never 
had  such  a  helper  before  he  came  to  America ;  in  England 
he  was  helped  by  a  man  whom  he  could  direct ;  in  America, 
within  a  year,  he  may  have  twenty  men  of  twenty  different 
tongues.  He  does  not  welcome  this,  and  it  is  very  natural 


62  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

that  he  should  look  with  disdain  upon  this  variety  of 
help. 

About  ten  million  foreign-born  persons  are  found  in  the 
industries  of  America,  most  of  whom  talk  a  language  the 
native  worker  does  not  understand.  They  live  under 
conditions  very  different  from  those  found  among  the 
native-born  workers,  and  their  customs  and  habits  are 
very  different  from  those  of  Americans.  Because  of  their 
low  standard  of  living  the  foreign-born  workers  can,  if 
they  will,  cut  down  the  wage  and  put  up  with  working 
conditions  against  which  English-speaking  workers  will 
protest.  The  dread  of  competing  with  this  foreigner  is  a 
real  factor  in  American  industries.  Hence  the  deep  feeling 
of  resentment  found  in  the  rank  and  file  of  American 
workers  against  the  foreigner,  which  intensifies  and  per- 
petuates race  prejudice  in  the  land. 

The  Americanization  director  will  guard  against  race 
prejudice.  It  is  found  everywhere  and  to  keep  clean  of 
this  deeply  rooted  feeling  is  difficult  indeed.  He  will 
meet  hundreds  of  men  who  curse  the  foreigners.  Good 
men  will  say  it  is  a  waste  of  effort  to  try  to  do  anything 
for  them ;  they  consider  them  as  so  many  cattle,  to  be 
worked  hard  and  left  alone.  This  opinion  is  not  as  strong 
as  it  was  a  decade  ago,  and  yet  it  takes  courage  either  to 
oppose  it  or  to  attempt  to  correct  it.  The  worker  will 
have  to  lay  his  plans  deep  and  well,  and  his  first  business 
is  to  see  that  his  own  heart  is  swept  clean  and  kept  clean 
of  race  prejudice. 

Another  equally  important  duty  is  to  avoid  idle  curi- 


THE  APPROACH   TO   THE  FOREIGN-BORN  63 

osity  and  sensationalism  in  investigation.  The  quest  for 
novelty  is  hard  to  suppress.  When  the  director  for  the 
first  time  comes  in  close  contact  with  the  foreign-born 
and  their  ways,  he  is  tempted  to  rush  into  print  or  expose 
on  the  platform  the  customs  and  habits  which  are  novel  to 
him.  To  do  this  would  be  folly.  When  a  certain  tyro 
sociologist  in  a  town  in  New  Jersey,  in  order  to  arouse  the 
sympathy  of  contributors,  reproduced  domestic  condi- 
tions and  family  practices  which  he  discovered  among  the 
foreign-born,  he  precipitated  a  row  which  made  short 
work  of  the  exhibit. 

The  Americanization  worker  will  do  his  best  work  when 
he  looks  sympathetically  upon  the  foreign-born  living 
under  new  conditions  in  a  new  world.  Many  of  these 
men  grew  up  in  agricultural  communities;  they  never 
saw  industrial  establishments  until  they  came  to  America. 
They  know  not  what  it  means  to  work  in  dirt  and  dust 
and  finish  the  day  as  black  as  the  commodity  they  handle. 
They  do  not  know  what  injury  may  result  to  their  system 
by  the  handling  of  certain  commodities,  or  the  inhaling 
of  certain  gases.  They  will  learn  this  at  a  high  cost. 
Then,  too,  living  in  one  room  in  an  agricultural  community 
is  very  different  from  living  in  one  room  in  a  tenement  dis- 
trict. Their  old  habits  cling  to  them ;  they  do  not  feel 
well,  and  they  forget  their  discomfort  in  dissipation.  All 
this  the  sympathetic  worker  will  see ;  he  can  be  of  great 
service  to  the  men  by  suggesting  methods  of  relief,  but  he 
must  do  this  in  a  sympathetic  way.  Let  no  one  think 
that  the  foreign-born  does  not  read  the  thought  and  dis- 


64  (  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

cern  the  motives  of  the  Americanization  worker.  If  he 
is  sympathetic  and  sincere,  he  will  make  friends  every 
day ;  if  he  is  curious  and  hopes  to  see  visions,  he  will  soon 
be  looking  for  a  new  field. 

The  standard  of  living  in  America  is  higher  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  world.  Many  foreign-born  men  from 
southeastern  Europe  come  from  the  poorest  sections  of 
Europe.  If  they  are  frugal  and  penurious,  they  are  so 
by  habit,  and  the  habit  was  contracted  under  dire  neces- 
sity. Let  the  director  sympathize  with  men  who  save 
and  lead  the  simple  life.  The  variety  of  standards  in 
eating,  housing,  and  dressing  in  America  among  the  Eng- 
lish-speaking is  very  great.  So  it  is  among  all  nations ; 
but  take  the  record  of  immigrants  coming  to  the  United 
States,  and  few  indeed  are  rejected  for  malnutrition. 

The  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  here  is  that  the  worker, 
who  will  find  in  his  work  standards  of  living  among  the 
immigrants  far  removed  from  those  obtaining  among  the 
Americans,  must  not  conclude  that  the  men  who  practice 
these  are  barbaric  and  need  civilizing.  A  white  table- 
cloth, china  dishes,  silverware,  separate  dishes  for  a  variety 
of  articles  are  desirable ;  but  I  have  eaten  as  good  a  meal 
as  was  ever  cooked,  which  was  well  balanced  from  the 
viewpoint  of  the  need  of  the  human  body,  at  a  table  with- 
out linen,  served  in  earthenware  vessels,  eaten  with  steel 
knives  and  forks.  Let  us  stand  for  a  high  standard  of 
living,  but  it  will  be  a  mistake  to  think  for  a  moment  that 
this  is  to  be  attained  by  expensive  tableware,  costly  linen, 
and  gastronomic  productions  that  tempt  the  palate  and 


THE   APPROACH   TO   THE   FOREIGN-BORN  65 

ruin  digestion.  For  the  workers  of  America  a  standard 
must  be  advocated  that  is  reasonable,  simple,  wholesome, 
and  within  reach  of  unskilled  or  semi-skilled  wage-earners  ; 
and  when  this  is  done,  the  simple  life  of  the  foreign-born 
will  not  be  a  thing  to  be  laughed  at  or  published  abroad  as 
a  specimen  of  barbaric  custom.  The  worker  will  bear 
this  in  mind  —  forego  idle  curiosity,  and  sympathize 
with  the  man  who  has  to  raise  a  large  family  on  less  than 
a  thousand1  dollars  a  year. 

REFERENCES 

GREEKS  IN  AMERICA  :  Thomas  Burgess. 

THE  PROMISED  LAND  :   Mary  Antin. 

THE  JEWS  :  Maurice  Fishberg. 

THE  JAPANESE  CONQUEST  OF  AMERICAN  OPINION  :  Montaville 

Flowers. 

APPEAL  TO  NATIONS  :  George  A.  Gordon. 
LEADERSHIP  OF  THE  NEW  AMERICA  :  Archibald  McClure. 
THE  SOCIAL  SURVEY  :  Carol  Aronovici. 
SOCIAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE  OF  ITALIANS  IN  AMERICA  :   Enrico 

C.  Sartorio. 
NEWER  IDEALS  OF  PEACE:  Jane  Addams. 

1  The  minimum  annual  income  for  a  family  of  five  is  put  to-day  at  fifteen 
hundred  dollars. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM 

WHAT  are  the  essentials  of  Americanization?  Many 
are  the  programs  published,  many  are  the  demands  made 
on  the  foreign-born,  many  are  the  varieties  of  opinions 
on  the  subject.  Thousands  of  ah1  ens  have  been  nat- 
uralized by  professional  politicians  who  needed  their  votes, 
thousands  have  become  citizens  to  please  their  friends, 
many  take  out  their  naturalization  papers  for  protection 
of  one  sort  or  another,  some  find  the  door  of  citizenship 
the  entrance  to  an  easy  livelihood,  while  some  use  natural- 
ization as  a  tool  to  strike  the  land  that  gave  them  birth. 
Not  until  within  the  last  few  years  has  there  been  a 
conscious  effort  by  state  and  federal  agencies  to  prepare 
the  foreign-born  for  the  duties  and  obligations  of  citizen- 
ship. 

We  are  not  yet  out  of  the  woods  in  this  task  of  preparing 
aliens  to  take  their  places  in  the  family.  Leaders  differ 
so  widely  in  their  ideas  that  the  men  and  women  who  are 
disposed  to  help  the  foreign-born  are  confused  as  to  what 
they  ought  to  do  in  classroom  or  hall.  Some  have  so 
broad  a  program  that  though  they  are  busy  day  in  and  day 
out,  they  get  nowhere;  others  are  so  narrow  that  they 
forget  the  varied  interests  and  relations  of  the  foreign- 

66 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   PROGRAM  67 

bom.  If  one  group  of  leaders  had  their  way,  the  alien 
would  do  little  else  during  the  five  years  of  probation 
than  attend  school,  lectures,  demonstrations,  readings, 
etc.,  in  order  to  come  to  the  stature  of  the  true  American ; 
others  believe  that  sending  the  alien  a  printed  folder 
containing  questions  the  judge  is  likely  to  ask,  together 
with  answers  stated  in  the  fewest  possible  words,  is  all 
that  is  needed.  The  right  course  lies  somewhere  between 
these  two  extremes.  The  teacher  must  take  into  con- 
sideration the  character  of  the  pupils  he  teaches,  the  time 
at  their  disposal,  and  the  standard  set  by  the  Bureau  of 
Naturalization  and  the  local  court. 

Ideal  citizenship  has  .not  yet  been  realized  by  any 
state.  How  many  of  the  rank  and  file  of  industrial 
workers  of  native-born  parents  in  America  are  qualified 
to  exercise  intelligently  the  rights  of  citizenship  ?  In  the 
home  they  play  their  part  well,  obey  the  laws  of  the 
state,  and  discharge  their  duty  in  an  economic  sense,  but 
their  knowledge  of  the  form  of  American  government  is 
not  large ;  they  take  little  interest  in  the  town  in  which 
they  live ;  they  go  to  the  polls  because  the  men  interested  in 
getting  out  the  vote  call  on  them  and  it  is  respectable  to 
vote  a  certain  way.  When  a  small  group  of  Canadians  in 
New  York  City  studied  the  form  of  American  government, 
the  members  of  the  group  had  lots  of  fun  putting  ques- 
tions to  their  native-born  fellow  workers  which  they 
could  not  answer.  Many  standards  imposed  by  twen- 
tieth-century civilization  cannot  be  said  to  be  American 
any  more  than  they  are  Canadian  or  Australian,  America, 


68  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

however,  expects  every  alien  in  the  United  States  to  put 
himself  in  line  with  American  democracy,  which  differs 
from  other  types  of  democratic  rule  in  the  world,  and  this 
demand  cannot  be  met  by  externalities,  no  matter  how 
well  they  may  conform  with  twentieth-century  standards. 

American  democracy  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  way 
a  house  is  furnished,  the  kind  of  table  the  family  sets, 
the  quality  of  the  clothes  worn  by  parents  and  children, 
or  the  way  they  talk.  If  these  standards  were  applied 
to  the  mountaineers  of  West  Virginia,  Virginia,  and 
Kentucky,  there  is  cause  to  fear  that  their  democracy 
would  not  stand  very  high.  It  is,  however,  a  well-known 
fact  that  these  mountaineers  stood  in  the  van  of  fighting 
men  in  the  days  of  the  World  War,  and  gave  as  good 
an  account^  of  themselves  as  any  company  of  soldiers 
from  the  north  or  west.  The  workers  of  America  as  well 
as  those  of  Canada  and  Australia  raise  their  voices 
against  the  low  standard  of  living  practiced  by  immi- 
grants from  backward  countries.  This  is  justifiable, 
for  in  it  are  involved  questions  bearing  directly  upon  the 
present  and  future  of  American  wage-earners.  But  the 
point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  externalities,  though 
desirable,  are  not  an  essential  part  of  the  program  of 
Americanism. 

The  essentials  of  Americanization  fall  under  five  heads, 
which  we  shall  discuss  in  this  chapter. 

1.  Teaching  English.  The  alien  who  does  not  know 
the  English  language  will  never  understand  America. 
Of  course,  many  men  who  know  the  language  in  every 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  69 

particular  are  as  far  from  the  spirit  of  America  as  im- 
perialism is  from  democracy,  but  speaking  generally  of 
the  immigrants  coming  from  foreign-speaking  countries 
to  America,  we  affirm  that  they  will  never  understand  the 
spirit  of  this  country  unless  they  understand  the  language 
of  the  court  and  the  press,  the  pulpit  and  the  forum. 
They  may  learn  much  about  American  history,  they  may 
be  versed  in  the  form  of  American  government,  but  they 
will  never  understand  Americans  unless  they  can  con- 
verse in  English,  read  the  American  newspaper  and  maga- 
zine, and  freely  mingle  in  American  society.  The  spirit 
of  America  is  in  the  atmosphere  where  her  sons  work, 
where  they  play,  where  they  discuss  the  questions  of  the 
hour,  where  they  settle  the  differences  that  arise  in  the 
social,  industrial,  and  political  arena,  and  the  man  who 
remains  outside  this  atmosphere  because  of  the  barrier 
of  language  will  remain  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

When  we  emphasize  the  importance  of  learning  English, 
it  does  not  mean  that  the  foreign-speaking  in  America 
should  forget  their  mother  tongue,  it  does  not  mean  that 
they  cannot  read  books  in  their  native  language,  but  it 
does  mean  that  it  is  to  their  interest  to  speak,  read,  and 
write  English,  and  that  this  is  essential  before  they  can 
understand  America  and  enter  into  the  life  of  the  country. 

We  do  not  propose  in  this  connection  to  discuss  this 
question  from  its  varied  sides.  We  may  state,  however, 
that  it  is  important  for  the  aliens  of  foreign  speech  to 
learn  English  in  order  to  increase  their  earnings  and  to  be 
able  to  travel  freely  from  place  to  place  in  America.  It  is 


70  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

equally  important  in  order  that  they  may  gain  the 
economic  advantages  in  trade  and  commerce.  But  our 
prime  object  just  now  is  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  an 
alien  will  never  understand  America  if  he  does  not 
understand  the  language  in  which  the  country  makes  its 
laws,  carries  on  its  business,  and  publishes  its  news.  I 
have  known  thousands  of  workers  in  America,  who  do  not 
know  English,  who  earn  good  wages  and  who  do  good 
work ;  possibly  they  could  not  do  that  job  better  or  get 
higher  wages  if  they  knew  our  tongue ;  there  are  in  the 
country  thousands  of  foreign-born  men  who  lead  model 
lives  as  husbands  and  fathers  who  do  not  speak  our 
language ;  these  would  not  be  better  husbands  or  more 
provident  fathers  if  they  spoke  English  fluently ;  but  if 
they  expect  to  become  intelligent  American  citizens  and 
take  part  in  the  social  and  political  life  of  America,  they 
must  come  out  of  their  exclusiveness  and  be  able  to  talk, 
read,  and  write  the  language  of  the  country. 

When  I  met  a  foreign-born  man  who  had  lived  in 
America  for  twenty-five  years  who  could  not  speak  the 
language  of  the  country,  I  felt  instinctively  that  I  spoke 
to  a  man  who  did  not  think  much  of  the  United  States. 
Any  one  coming  to  America  as  a  young  man,  living  here 
for  a  quarter  of  a  century,  and  making  no  effort  to 
learn  the  language  of  the  country,  need  not  proclaim 
from  the  housetop  his  contempt  for  the  country  and  its 
institutions.  Such  a  man  has  no  love  for  America  and 
her  government.  There  may  be,  in  some  instances,  ex- 
tenuating circumstances.  A  man  living  in  a  construction 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  71 

camp  or  on  an  isolated  farm,  or  in  a  secluded  mining 
town  may  have  no  opportunity  to  learn  English ;  but 
even  under  these  conditions,  if  the  foreign-born  gave  due 
thought  to  his  relation  to  the  country  which  gives  him 
protection,  economic  opportunity,  a  civilized  society,  and 
freedom,  he  would  make  an  honest  effort  to  learn  the 
language  of  the  country. 

Many  foreign-born  men,  in  press  and  on  platform,  have 
blamed  the  United  States  for  their  ignorance  of  the 
English  language,  of  the  history  of  America,  and  of  the 
American  plan  of  government.  Many  Russians  now  in 
Russia  have  made  this  charge.  They  say :  "  When  we 
were  in  America,  no  one  took  interest  enough  in  us  to 
teach  us  English ;  to  tell  us  the  story  of  America ;  or 
instruct  us  in  the  form  of  the  American  government." 
This  may  or  may  not  be  true.  No  national  plan  has  been 
formed  and  successfully  carried  out  to  teach  foreign-born 
men  the  English  language,  American  history,  and  the 
workings  of  American  democracy.  Much  has  been  done 
in  a  sporadic  way  by  men  and  women  interested  in  the 
foreign-born.  The  efforts  were  largely  individualistic, 
lacking  standardization,  momentum,  coordination,  or 
financial  backing. 

The  war  changed  all  this.  Several  organizations  arose 
overnight  in  war  days,  issued  a  nation-wide  program, 
with  the  motto:  "  Americanize  all  aliens."  Men  and 
women  by  hundreds  went  to  and  fro  over  this  land  shouting 
that  the  foreign-born  were  a  menace,  that  measures  should 
be  taken  to  Americanize  them,  by  moral  suasion  if  possible, 


72  THE   PROBLEM    OF   AMERICANIZATION 

by  compulsion  if  necessary.  Unable  to  get  the  prompt 
result  they  wished,  the  missionaries  brought  pressure  to 
bear  on  the  industries  employing  the  foreign-born,  to  do 
something  for  Americanization.  In  some  states  laws 
were  proposed  to  compel  not  only  minors  of  foreign  birth, 
but  also  adults  ignorant  of  the  English  language,  to  attend 
evening  schools.  I  do  not  pretend  to  pass  on  the  merit  of 
these  measures,  but  one  thing  I  do  know,  that  no  economic 
pressure  and  no  legislative  enactment  will  be  effective 
unless  the  native-born  of  native  parentage  will  show  a 
disposition  to  welcome  the  foreign-born  to  the  family  by 
kindly  sympathy  and  just  treatment. 

If  the  work  of  teaching  English  is  properly  promoted  by 
men  and  women  who  know  the  foreign-born  and  sym- 
pathize with  them,  there  need  not  be  a  foreign-speaking 
man  or  woman  in  the  United  States  who  will  not  be  asked 
by  some  one  in  the  spirit  of  genuine  helpfulness  :  "  Why 
don't  you  learn  English?"  If  this  is  done,  and  a  practical 
method  used  by  which  the  foreign-speaking  can  learn  the 
English  language,  few  indeed  are  the  men  under  fifty  years 
of  age  who  will  not  avail  themselves  of  the  opportunity 
to  learn. 

If,  however,  there  are  any  who  will  not  learn  the  lan- 
guage of  the  country,  who  are  so  indifferent  to  American 
history  and  institutions  as  to  ignore  them,  then  the 
United  States  is  not  the  best  place  for  them.  Greater 
homogeneity  is  desired  among  the  peoples  of  America,  and 
will  never  be  attained  until  we  have  one  medium  of 
communication.  When  all  native-born  men  and  women 


THE   AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  73 

believe  this  and  work  for  it,  the  pressure  of  public 
opinion  will  bring  it  to  pass,  and  legislative  enactment 
either  in  Washington  or  in  the  several  states  will  not  be 
necessary. 

2.  Naturalization.  It  is  the  duty  of  every  immigrant 
in  the  United  States,  who  has  made  up  his  mind  to  make 
this  country  his  home,  to  take  out  his  naturalization 
papers.  He  should  have  ample  time  to  decide  this 
question  —  time  to  see  the  nature  of  the  country,  to 
determine  whether  or  not  he  can  make  a  living  in  it,  to 
study  its  political  and  social  life,  and  to  learn  what 
America  can  offer  him  and  his  children.  Should  he 
determine  to  cast  his  lot  with  us,  then  every  opportunity 
should  be  offered  him  to  secure  the  rights  of  citizenship ; 
if,  at  the  close  of  the  period  of  probation,  he  decides  not 
to  take  out  his  naturalization  papers,  then  he  should 
return  to  the  land  of  which  he  is  a  citizen. 

As  regards  naturalization,  there  are  three  classes  of 
aliens :  first,  those  who  are  anxious  to  become  American 
citizens  and  welcome  help  to  secure  their  papers,  —  these 
form  the  vast  majority ;  second,  those  who  are  indifferent, 
who  have  not  given  the  matter  due  thought  and  are  un- 
decided, —  these  form  a  large  group  and  can  be  helped 
to  settle  the  question  one  way  or  another  according  to 
the  conviction  of  the  man  who  addresses  them;  third, 
those  who  are  resolved  not  to  become  citizens  of  the 
United  States  because  they  are  so  enamored  of  the 
government  of  their  native  land  that  they  cannot  think 
of  changing  their  allegiance,  —  these  form  a  small  per- 


74  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

centage  and  are  generally  so  set  in  their  opinion  that  it  is 
useless  to  attempt  to  change  it. 

Can  you  make  an  American  out  of  a  Slav  or  an  Italian  ? 
is  a  question  often  asked.  Yes,  it  can  be  done.  A 
prominent  Slav  once  said :  "  You'll  never  make  anything 
of  me  but  a  Serb.  I  am  that  by  nationality  and  will 
always  feel  like  a  Serb."  True,  it  would  be  absurd  to 
assume  that  he  could  be  transformed  into  an  American 
in  the  sense  in  which  he  spoke  as  a  Serb.  The  place  of 
one's  birth  is  settled  once  for  all.  One's  blood  is  fixed 
by  nature,  the  national  heritage  and  racial  bent  cannot 
be  changed,  the  traditions  and  institutions  that  shape 
one's  life  in  the  plastic  period  of  youth  are  not  of  one's 
choosing  —  all  this  is  beyond  control.  When  we  speak 
of  Americanization,  it  is  silly  to  imagine  that  we  can 
change  the  physique  or  the  racial  characteristics  of  men, 
be  they  physical  or  mental  or  spiritual.  And  yet  we 
believe  that  a  Serb  or  an  Italian,  a  Finn  or  a  Greek, 
can  become  an  American. 

The  best  analogy  is  that  of  one  who  is  a  son  and  a  hus- 
band. Sonship  is  fixed ;  one  cannot  have  more  than  one 
mother  any  more  than  a  man  can  have  more  than  one 
birthplace.  When,  however,  the  son  marries,  he  enters 
into  new  relations  which  may  be  said  to  cut  into  the  filial 
obligations  which  up  to  that  hour  dominated  his  life. 
This  is  expressed  in  sacred  writ  as  "  leaving  father  and 
mother  and  cleaving  to  his  wife . ' '  The  contract  he  makes  in 
this  new  relationship  is  binding,  and  in  the  event  of  conflict 
of  interests,  he  knows  that  his  first  allegiance  is  to  his  wife. 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  75 

That  is  exactly  what  we  mean  by  the  new  allegiance 
to  one's  adopted  country  when  an  alien  becomes  an  Amer- 
ican. A  man  cannot  forget  the  land  of  his  birth  or  blot 
out  of  memory  the  love  for  the  fields  and  the  brooks, 
the  trees  and  the  birds,  the  songs  and  the  poetry,  the 
heroes  and  the  epochs  of  his  native  land.  When,  however, 
the  alien  gives  up  the  allegiance  he  owes  to  the  sovereign 
power  of  the  land  of  his  birth  and  takes  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance to  these  United  States,  he  should  forsake  the 
one  and  cleave  to  the  other.  The  man  who  has  sworn 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,  when  divided  between  the 
love  of  the  old  and  the  new,  because  of  conflicting  interests, 
should  not  for  a  moment  doubt  where  his  duty  lies.  The 
country  of  his  adoption  should  have  the  first  claim  upon 
his  love,  his  resources,  and  his  life.  This  should  be  the 
meaning  of  naturalization  to  every  alien  who  comes  into 
the  American  family. 

The  late  war  showed  clearly  that  this  is  not  the  way 
naturalization  in  the  United  States  was  regarded  by 
thousands  of  men  whose  intellectual  grasp  was  of  the 
first  order.  The  naturalized  citizens  who  violated  the 
neutrality  of  the  United  States  and  later,  when  America 
entered  the  war,  were  pro-entente  in  their  sympathies, 
were  not  ignorant  of  what  they  were  doing.  They  knew 
perfectly  well  what  course  they  were  pursuing,  what  their 
acts  meant  in  point  of  law,  and  what  awaited  them  if 
arrested  and  tried ;  but  in  the  face  of  this,  they  deliberately 
attempted  treason  against  the  country  of  their  adoption. 
During  the  World  War,  eminent  men  in  allied  countries 


76  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

affirmed  that  persons  from  enemy  countries  had,  some 
years  before,  secured  citizenship  in  their  country  for  the 
sole  purpose  of  carrying  on  propaganda  in  favor  of  their 
native  land,  and  in  order  to  keep  their  government  in- 
formed as  to  national  sentiment,  economic  status,  and 
defense  in  the  country  where  they  resided. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  many  aliens  have  been 
made  citizens  of  the  United  States  in  such  a  flimsy  way 
that  they  never  realized  the  meaning  of  the  oath  they  took 
and  never  thought  of  its  consequences  in  case  difficulties 
arose  between  America  and  the  country  of  their  birth. 
One  reason  for  this  is  that  many  men,  interested  in  secur- 
ing votes,  put  party  interest  above  patriotism.  Their 
one  purpose  in  securing  naturalization  papers  for  aliens 
was  to  lead  them  to  the  polls  as  sheep  are  led  to  the 
shambles.  Since  1906,  a  conscious  effort  has  been  made, 
by  men  knowing  the  abuses  practiced,  to  raise  the  standard 
and  lend  greater  dignity  to  the  process  of  giving  aliens 
a  part  in  the  sovereign  power  of  the  nation. 

In  many  instances,  the  effort  has  succeeded.  In  most 
cases,  however,  it  has  resulted  in  making  it  more  difficult 
for  the  alien  to  secure  naturalization,  in  opening  to  petty 
attorneys  a  new  source  of  income,  and  in  emphasizing 
knowledge  to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  considerations. 
There  is  reason  to  believe  also  that  in  some  instances  the 
standard  of  citizenship  is  no  higher  to-day  than  in  the 
days  when  aliens  were  made  citizens  by  the  wholesale. 
The  practice  is  not  so  gross  as  when  thousands  of  aliens 
were  made  voters  overnight,  but  in  cases  where  politics 


THE   AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  77 

control  the  courthouse,  from  the  janitor  to  the  judge,  the 
effort  at  exaltation  of  standards  and  greater  dignity  of 
process  is  defeated  by  partisan  zeal. 

Under  these  conditions,  exalted  ideas  as  to  respon- 
sibility, of  duties  to  discharge,  of  ideals  to  be  maintained, 
of  sanctity  of  the  election,  and  of  the  preservation  of 
democratic  institutions  are  lost  to  sight.  Thousands  of 
foreign-born  citizens  have  the  power  of  the  ballot  who 
have  not  given  an  hour's  thought  to  the  relation  of  their 
rights  to  the  future  of  democracy.  They  have  not 
imagination  enough  to  comprehend  such  a  relation,  and 
not  until  the  disinterested,  public-spirited,  and  better 
educated  part  of  the  electorate  take  a  larger  interest  in 
the  naturalization  of  the  foreign-born  will  the  attempt 
at  installing  ceremonies  which  impress  the  mind  of  the 
alien  with  the  dignity,  worth,  and  meaning  of  the  rights 
of  citizenship  conferred  on  him,  be  of  value. 

The  excess  tax  imposed  on  all  alien  wage-earners  by 
the  law  of  1918  drove  thousands  of  foreign-born  men  to 
make  their  declaration  of  intention  to  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States.  We  have  reason  to  believe  that  many 
of  these  people  did  this  to  evade  the  excess  taxation. 
Most  aliens  did  not  understand  the  operation  of  the  law, 
and  many  of  the  men  who  handled  the  matter  did  not  sym- 
pathize enough  with  the  foreign-born  to  explain  it.  Foot- 
loose young  men  among  the  foreign-born  move  fre- 
quently. This  was  especially  the  case  during  the  war 
and  there  was  no  way  of  finding  out  what  their  annual 
income  was.  The  tax  collector  guessed  at  it  and  simply 


78  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

demanded  so  much  money,  which  the  alien  had  to  pay. 
No  one  can  tell  the  amount  of  misunderstanding,  irri- 
tation, and  exasperation,  caused  by  this  excess  taxation  on 
aliens,  and  it  has  been  one  of  the  greatest  allies  of  the 
radicals,  who  cause  so  much  trouble  in  the  land. 
A  greater  effort  should  be  made  to  explain  the  law,  how 
similar  laws  were  in  operation  in  other  countries,  and  to 
show  that  it  was  only  fair  for  the  aliens  to  bear  part  of 
the  burden  imposed  upon  the  country  because  of  war. 

One  of  the  objectives  which  the  Americanization  worker 
should  have  in  mind  is  that  no  opportunity  should 
pass  without  an  effort  being  made  to  show  the  inseparable 
relation  between  the  health  of  the  city,  the  kind  of  educa- 
tion offered  in  its  schools,  the  character  of  public  officials, 
and  the  conscientious  use  of  the  ballot.  The  sale  of  a  vote 
means  the  loss  of  all  that  is  worth  living  for  in  civilized 
life.  The  ceremony  in  the  court,  culminating  in  the 
process  of  naturalization,  should  be  most  impressive. 
The  most  sacred  usages  in  the  lives  of  most  foreign- 
born  peoples  are  those  of  the  church.  The  oath  taken 
at  the  altar  is  sacred,  and  the  sanctity  of  this  oath  depends 
largely  upon  its  antiquity  and  the  drapery  thrown 
around  it.  In  the  Old  World,  government  in  the  alien's 
mind  is  a  sacred  institution  ;  around  it  is  an  air  of  exalted 
dignity  and  authority  and  it  commands  respect.  In 
America  this  reverence  for  antiquity  and  custom  is 
lacking.  The  church  finds  it  difficult  to  maintain  that 
reverence  and  sanctity  pertaining  to  sacred  rites  which 
were  wont  to  be  observed  in  the  Old  World.  The  church 


THE   AMERICANIZATION   PROGRAM  79 

does  this,  however,  far  more  successfully  than  do  demo- 
cratic institutions. 

When  an  official  of  high  standing  passes  around  the 
cigars,  chews  the  "  cud,"  wears  soiled  garments,  often 
greasy  and  threadbare,  frequents  low  places  and  violates 
the  prohibition  law  —  such  conduct  is  fatal  to  defer- 
ence to  public  officials,  dignity  of  court  procedure, 
reverence  for  political  authority,  and'  regard  for  demo- 
cratic institutions.  All  this  has  a  bearing  upon  loyalty 
and  patriotism,  and  not  until  our  public  officials,  our 
court  proceedings,  and  the  ceremony  of  naturalization 
are  surrounded  with  greater  solemnity  and  dignity,  will 
the  rank  and  file  of  foreign-born  men  seeking  naturalization 
have  a  due  appreciation  of  the  rights  of  citizenship  con- 
ferred upon  them.  If  the  foreign-born  do  not  comprehend 
the  meaning  of  the  oath  they  take,  the  fault  is  more  ours 
than  theirs. 

3.  Lectures  and  Entertainments.  Lectures  are  de- 
signed to  give  information  to  the  foreign-born  con- 
cerning the  institutions  of  the  country,  the  form  of  our 
government,  and  the  aim  of  this  Republic ;  entertain- 
ments are  means  by  which  the  foreign-born  may  find  self- 
expression  and  conserve  what  is  best  in  the  culture  of  his 
race. 

The  lectures  should  attempt  three  things : 

(a)  To  educate  the  foreign-born  in  the  necessity  of 
physical  readjustment  and  adaptation  in  a  new  country. 
Work  in  America  is  very  different  from  work  in  Europe. 
The  pace  is  different,  the  tools  are  different,  the  con- 


80  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

ditions  of  work  are  different,  the  management  is  different, 
and  the  ways  of  life  are  different.  The  majority  of  those 
emigrating  from  southeastern  Europe  come  from  agri- 
cultural communities ;  life  and  work  on  the  farm  in 
Rumania  or  in  Galicia  have  nothing  in  common  with  life 
and  work  in  a  coal  mine,  in  a  steel  plant,  or  in  a  factory. 
.Thousands  of  immigrants  lose  their  health  because  they 
believe  that  they  can  live  exactly  as  they  were  wont  to 
do  in  the  Old  World  while  working  in  the  industries  of 
America.  They  break  down  and  will  continue  to  break 
down  unless  they  eat  more,  wash  oftener,  dissipate  less,  and 
sleep  in  more  sanitary  quarters.  This  knowledge  can  be 
given  by  lectures,  well  illustrated  by  slides  or  motion 
pictures.  The  wonder  is  that  alien  men  are  able  to  stand 
what  they  do  when  we  consider  the  food  they  eat,  the 
work  they  perform,  and  the  conditions  under  which  they 
live. 

Six  Russians,  living  in  a  cellar  which  during  the  rainy 
season  was  flooded,  had  to  walk  to  their  dirty  beds  on 
planks.  They  prepared  their  own  food,  which  was  com- 
prised largely  of  canned  goods,  and  the  inevitable  void  that 
nature  felt  was  supplied  with  drink.  They  worked  in 
the  yard  of  a  steel  plant,  handling  pig  iron.  They  were 
stolid  and  faithful  and  earned  good  wages,  but  under  these 
conditions  it  was  only  a  question  of  time  when  the 
strongest  would  break  down.  In  the  discussion  of  turn- 
over among  foreigners,  this  point  of  maladjustment 
between  living  conditions  and  work  done  is  not  given 
the  attention  it  should  have. 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  81 

(6)  To  give  the  foreign-born  a  clear  understanding  of 
certain  laws  of  the  country,  the  ordinances  of  the  city, 
and  the  customs  and  habits  common  in  the  United  States. 
Higher  civilization  means  a  multiplicity  of  laws  and 
ordinances  bearing  upon  the  daily  life  of  men  in  thickly 
settled  communities.  These  are  wholly  foreign  to  aliens 
from  backward  countries.  A  family  from  the  province 
of  Grodno,  settling  in  the  city  of  New  York  or  Chicago, 
will  be  face  to  face  with  municipal  ordinances  never  dreamt 
of  in  an  European  agricultural  community.  Take  the 
laws  regarding  fire  and  fire  escapes ;  or  regarding  offal 
and  garbage ;  or  regarding  food  selling  and  preserva- 
tion ;  the  foreigner  knows  nothing  of  them  and  cannot 
understand  why  they  should  be  enforced.  They  are 
regulations  having  behind  them  hundreds  of  years  of 
civilization,  they  were  put  on  the  statute  books  of  munic- 
ipalities after  long  experiences  accompanied  by  loss*  of 
life,  or  property,  and  untold  suffering.  But  the  simple- 
minded  immigrant  from  an  agricultural  community  in 
mid-Russia  does  not  know  this  and  will  not  understand 
it.  He  must  first  of  all  pass  through  a  process  of  thinking 
that  takes  time ;  he  must  be  given  the  facts  in  a  language 
which  he  can  understand ;  he  must  be  shown  how  the 
carelessness  of  one  may  mean  the  suffering  and  death 
of  many.  When  these  facts  are  brought  to  his  attention, 
he  will  see  the  reason  for  city  ordinances,  and  why  they 
should  be  enforced. 

The  same  is  true  of  most  state  laws  which  regulate 
life.  Such  statutes  as  that  of  Pennsylvania  that  a 


82  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

foreign-born  alien  cannot  keep  a  dog,  or  that  of  Michigan 
that  an  alien  cannot  be  employed  in  a  barber  shop  or 
open  up  a  shop  of  his  own,  or  that  aliens  in  some  states 
are  practically  prohibited  from  holding  land,  are  not  com- 
monly known  to  the  native-born,  much  less  to  the  foreign- 
born.  Labor  laws  bear  specially  upon  the  interests  of  the 
foreign-born  wage-earner,  so  do  the  regulations  regarding 
wages,  child  labor,  night  work,  etc. ;  but  it  is  safe  to  say 
that  no  effort  is  made  to  give  the  necessary  information 
to  immigrants  save  through  the  courthouse  and  the  police 
officer.  The  same  is  true  of  the  laws  pertaining  to 
compulsory  school  attendance,  the  necessity  of  securing 
working  papers,  the  regulations  about  contagious  diseases, 
and  the  group  of  laws  regulating  Sabbath  observances, 
the  sale  of  cigarettes,  and  the  carrying  of  concealed 
weapons.  These  are  not  known  to  the  immigrant. 

(c)  To  give  the  foreign-born  a  clear  understanding  of 
the  form  of  American  government,  the  leading  events  in 
American  history,  the  men  and  women  who  made  sacrifices 
in  laying  the  foundations  of  this  Republic,  the  great 
objective  of  American  democratic  ideals. 

The  American  spirit  is  the  product  of  the  Constitution, 
the  historic  development  of  the  country,  the  activity  of 
legislative  bodies  and  of  the  courts,  the  deeds  and  words  of 
Americans  who  have  stood  on  the  watch  towers  of  Amer- 
ican democracy,  and  the  conscience  of  the  nation,  which 
is  not  reflected  by  any  one  man  or  group  of  men,  but 
which  is  a  positive  influence  in  shaping  the  lives  of  all  in 
this  Republic.  The  foreign-born  will  not  come  to  under- 


THE   AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  83 

stand  the  American  spirit  if  he  does  not  get  acquainted 
with  the  forces  that  have  produced  it,  as  far  as  these 
can  be  brought  within  the  range  of  his  comprehension. 
For  this  purpose,  a  carefully  prepared  series  of  lectures 
should  be  available,  having  this  educational  propaganda 
especially  in  view. 

Every  American  believes  that  this  is  "  God's  country"  ; 
that  it  is  the  greatest  country  under  the  sun;  and  that 
no  country  has  a  more  promising  future.  But  this  is 
not  the  opinion  of  the  foreign-born,  and  it  will  not  be 
his  opinion  until  a  conscious  effort  is  made  to  show  him 
what  America  has  to  offer  in  the  matter  of  self-govern- 
ment, in  the  solution  of  the  question  of  democracy,  in 
the  application  of  the  principles  of  democracy  to  the  life 
of  a  nation,  and  in  the  type  of  men  and  women  produced 
by  democratic  institutions.  We  believe  that  this  can 
be  done.  The  story  of  the  foundation  and  the  develop- 
ment, the  institutions  and  their  applications,  the  trials 
and  the  triumphs  of  these  United  States  is  full  of  interest 
to  foreign-born  as  well  as  to  those  born  under  the  "  Stars 
and  Stripes."  Before  the  foreign-born  can  give  full- 
hearted  allegiance  to  America,  before  he  can  intelligently 
support  its  program,  and  before  he  can  look  with  hope  to 
the  future,  he  must  catch  the  spirit  that  runs  through 
the  hundred  and  forty  years  of  America's  life  as  a  nation. 

Entertainments  are  planned  to  give  the  foreign-born 
self-expression.  When  immigrants  come  to  America 
they  do  not  divest  their  minds  and  hearts  of  the  good 
things  they  have  learned  in  the  land  of  their  birth.  They 


84  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

can  throw  off  their  old  garments,  but  they  cannot  throw 
off  the  garment  of  the  soul,  and  it  is  neither  good  for  them, 
nor  for  us,  to  throw  away  the  many  beautiful  things 
they  bring  with  them  from  the  Old  World.  The  story  of 
their  people,  the  memory  of  birds  and  fields  and  flowers, 
the  songs  they  learned  in  childhood,  the  poetry  of  their 
race,  the  story  of  their  heroes  and  the  epochs  of  conflict 
and  sacrifice  and  suffering,  their  folklore  and  folk  dances, 
the  consecrated  musical  instruments,  their  sweet  melodies, 
their  art,  their  science,  their  national  festivals  and  days 
sacred  to  their  saints  —  all  these  and  much  more  they 
bring  to  America.  No  genuine  American  asks  the 
foreign-born  to  forget  these ;  most  Americans  wish  to 
conserve  what  is  noble  and  excellent  in  the  culture  of  all 
immigrant  peoples,  and  the  entertainments  for  foreign- 
born  peoples  are  planned  with  this  in  mind. 

Americanization  has  been  defined  as  the  combination 
of  what  is  best  in  the  Old  and  the  New  World.  The  idea 
is  a  good  one.  The  man  who  has  a  receptive  mind  is  the 
best  neighbor;  the  same  is  true  of  a  nation.  The 
Puritan  concept  of  civilization  made  possible  the  United 
States,  and  much  of  what  we  enjoy  to-day,  much  of  what 
we  consider  worth  while  in  American  institutions,  owes 
its  origin  to  that  source ;  but  it  would  be  foolish  and 
narrow  to  imagine  that  the  Puritan  type  of  civilization 
is  the  summum  bonum  of  life.  We  have  drifted  far  away 
from  the  standards  laid  down  by  Cotton  Mather,  John 
Eliot,  and  Jonathan  Edwards.  This  drift  from  Puritan 
standards  is  not  wholly  due  to  the  spirit  of  the  times ; 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  85 

some  of  it  is  due  to  the  type  of  civilization  of  south- 
eastern Europeans,  which  makes  life  richer  and  more 
tolerant.  The  gay,  careless,  and  shallow  life  of  semi- 
civilized  peoples  is  inconceivable  in  the  United  States, 
but  it  is  equally  true  that  the  intense,  rushing,  driving, 
exciting  life  of  America  is  not  ideal.  Men  are  hankering 
for  and  will  find  a  way  of  life  that  strikes  a  via  media 
between  the  cold,  stern  morality  of  Puritanism  and  the 
red  and  spicy  laxity  of  Bohemianism. 

4.  Recreational  Activities.  This  part  of  the  program 
has  to  do  with  the  children  of  the  foreign-born.  It  is  a 
well-known  fact  that  the  hard  work  of  the  nation  in  the 
North  is  done  by  the  foreign-born,  just  as  the  chores  in 
the  Southland  are  performed  by  the  negroes.  This 
strenuous  work  makes  it  inadvisable  to  plan  a  program 
of  recreational  activity  for  adults  among  the  foreign-born. 
It  is  also  a  fact  that  our  national  games  will  never  be 
taken  up  by  the  men  emigrating  from  Europe  to  America. 
Men  in  their  twenties  do  not  take  up  new  games.  Group 
activities  may  be  planned,  but  these  must  be  of  the  sim- 
plest kind.  What  will  be  more  to  the  purpose  is  that 
the  Americanization  worker  should  find  out  what  games 
the  foreign-born  have  learned  and  can  play,  and  intro- 
duce these  in  the  play  life  of  the  people.  Adult  foreigners, 
however,  bent  on  making  a  living,  will  not  take  much 
interest  in  American  games,  but  their  sons  will  and  it  is 
they  who  need  direction. 

In  every  community  where  the  foreign-born  are  found, 
the  boys  need  two  things  —  direction  that  they  may 


86  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

rightly  understand  America,  and  leadership  that  they  may 
justly  appreciate  the  rights  of  parents  to  obedience  and 
reverence. 

Thousands  of  parents  cannot  understand  why  their 
children  do  not  behave  in  America  as  they  did  in  the  Old 
World ;  when  the  child  falls  into  the  clutches  of  the  law, 
the  parents  pay  the  fine,  but  do  not  understand.  When 
a  probation  officer  visits  the  home,  he  is  not  welcomed ; 
when  the  officer  searches  for  a  juvenile  criminal,  the 
parents  say  America  is  not  a  good  place  to  raise  a  family, 
no  matter  what  its  economic  advantages  may  be.  The 
boys  of  foreign-born  parents  are  just  boys,  and  all  they 
need  is  leadership  by  men  who  are  sympathetic  with  the 
boys  and  their  parents,  and  who  see  clearly  the  relation 
of  this  work  to  Americanization.  It  has  often  been  said 
that  the  parents  can  best  be  reached  through  the  child ; 
this  is  undoubtedly  true  of  the  foreigners  as  well  as  of  the 
native-born,  and  the  work  suggested  in  this  connection 
is  the  way  to  save  the  parents  by  saving  the  boys.  If  the 
hearts  of  the  boys  are  turned  to  the  parents,  the  gulf 
separating  parents  and  children  will  be  bridged,  and 
many  hearts  spared  the  aches  which  to-day  trouble  the 
homes  of  foreign-born  parents. 

5.  Advisory  Councils.  This  means  the  organization 
of  a  few  men  who  are  willing  to  give  free  advice  to  the 
foreign-born  who  gets  into  trouble  and  who  does  not 
know  how  to  extricate  himself.  It  is  a  well-known  fact 
that  the  majority  of  cases  in  courts  in  districts  in  which 
foreign-born  people  form  from  twenty  to  thirty  per 


THE  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM  87 

cent  of  the  population  are  those  connected  with  the  immi- 
grant population.  Many  shyster  lawyers  prey  upon  this 
part  of  the  community  and  are  ever  stirring  up  strife  or 
fanning  a  petty  feud  into  a  lawsuit.  In  addition  to 
difficulties  which  result  in  litigation,  there  is  much  de- 
frauding. Impositions  are  practiced  which  could  not  be 
practiced  on  the  English-speaking  peoples.  The  foreign- 
born  does  not  know  what  to  do,  but  the  spider  can  afford 
to  wait  for  the  blood  of  his  victim.  What  the  immigrant 
needs  is  an  advisor  —  one  who  will  tell  him  what  his  rights 
are  and  how  he  can  meet  the  cunning  of  the  fellow  who 
will  sit  up  night  after  night  laying  nets  to  catch  the 
unwary. 

As  to  the  civil  duties  involved  —  some  foreigners  are 
in  difficulties  about  their  naturalization  papers ;  others 
have  purchased  a  piece  of  property  and  the  seller  has 
not  dealt  squarely  with  them ;  some  want  a  young  bride 
from  the  old  country,  and  they  do  not  know  how  to  pro- 
ceed to  get  her ;  others  have  friends  who  have  come  from 
the  Old  World  and  who  cannot  land,  and  they  know  not 
what  to  do.  All  kinds  of  difficulties  arise,  and  what  the 
foreign-born  need  above  all  else  is  a  friend  who  will  advise 
them  in  time  of  need. 

REFERENCES 

IMMIGRATION  AND  THE  FUTURE  AMERICAN  RACE  :  Albert 
Allemann,  Popular  Scientific  Monthly,  Vol.  LXXV,  pp. 
585-596. 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  THE  IMMIGRANT:  Herbert  A.  Miller,  Cleve- 
land Educational  Survey. 


88  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

FOREIGN-BORN  NEIGHBORS:  George  W.  Tupper. 

POLITICAL   PROBLEMS   OF   AMERICAN   DEVELOPMENT:  Albert 

Shaw,  Chapters  II  and  III,  pp.  30-86. 
AMERICAN  IDEALS:  Clayton  S.  Cooper,  pp.  229-252. 
THE  EDUCATION  OF  THE  NEW  CANADIANS  :  J.  T.  M.  Anderson. 
ON  BECOMING  AN  AMERICAN  :  Horace  J.  Bridges,  pp.  135-150. 


CHAPTER  V 
TEACHING   ENGLISH 

ALL  men  of  foreign  speech  living  and  working  in  the 
United  States  should  make  an  effort  to  learn  the 
language  of  the  country.  Many  captains  of  industries 
will  not  employ  men  who  cannot  speak  the  English 
language,  while  others  insist  upon  their  employees 
learning  it  or  quitting  their  jobs. 

To  be  compelled  to  learn  a  language  is  un-American. 
Many  foreign-speaking  peoples  were  compelled  to  learn  a 
language  other  than  their  mother's  tongue.  They  did 
not  like  it  and  called  it  Prussianism.  Thousands  of  adult 
foreigners  in  America  learn  English  of  their  free  will ; 
if  compulsion  is  used,  they  will  resent  the  effort  and  look 
upon  America  as  they  did  upon  some  European  govern- 
ments. It  is  advisable  to  compel  foreign-speaking  minors 
to  learn  our  language,  but  a  law  to  compel  adults  can 
never  be  enforced. 

Compulsion  is  not  necessary.  Between  eighty  and 
ninety  per  cent  of  foreign-speaking  persons  will  join  a 
class  in  English,  providing  they  are  approached  by  some 
one  having  genuine  sympathy  for  and  confidence  in  the  for- 
eigner. The  other  ten  per  cent  will  have  valid  reasons 
for  not  learning  and  their  wishes  should  be  respected. 

89 


90  THE    PROBLEM    OF  AMERICANIZATION 

When  an  effort  is  made  in  an  industry  or  in  the  com- 
munity to  enlist  the  foreign-speaking  in  classes,  certain 
fundamental  principles  should  be  observed.  Attention 
should  be  given  to  the  difficulties  of  the  foreigners,  the 
organization  of  classes,  the  material  of  the  lessons,  and 
the  teachers. 

1.  The  Foreigner's  Difficulties.  The  Americanization 
teacher  should,  as  far  as  possible,  understand  the  diffi- 
culties under  which  the  foreign-born  try  to  learn  the 
English  language.  One,  of  the  greatest  hindrances  is 
the  prejudice  against  the  foreigner.  Men  generally 
speak  of  the  immigrants  as  unclean,  poverty-stricken, 
ignorant,  and  superstitious.  The  men,  women,  and 
children  of  foreign  birth  feel  this  and  resent  it.  Op- 
probrious epithets  are  hurled  at  them ;  they  are  os- 
tracized ;  the  community  in  which  they  live  is  generally 
a  section  forsaken  by  the  Americans  and  neglected  by 
the  municipality.  The  foreigners  must  live  in  these 
undesirable  sections  of  our  cities,  and  because  of  the 
dirt  and  the  congestion,  the  self-respecting  American 
looks  with  disdain  upon  them.  The  teacher  should  guard 
against  this  sentiment  and  make  the  foreign-speaking 
pupils  feel  that,  notwithstanding  the  prejudice  they 
encounter,  they  can  become  good  American  citizens. 

The  opinion  is  also  too  prevalent  that  the  foreigners 
are  diseased,  criminal,  and  vicious.  There  is  no  basis  in 
fact  for  this  indictment,  and  most  people  who  so  charge 
the  foreign-born  care  little  for  facts.  I  have  met  some 
persons  of  foreign  birth  who  were  so  hurt  by  this  suspi- 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  91 

cion  that  they  would  neither  learn  our  language  nor  as- 
sociate with  Americans.  As  far  as  statistics  go,  the 
foreign-born  adult  is  less  criminal  than  the  native-born, 
and  the  money  he  saves  rapidly  remedies  his  impoverished 
condition.  The  foreigner  knows  he  is  despised  and  re- 
jected by  Americans,  and  when  he  comes  to  school  he  is 
liable  to  be  alert  for  signs  of  this  contempt.  It  is  the 
privilege  of  the  teacher  to  dispel  this  suspicion  and  prove 
that  true  Americanism  does  not  take  the  accidental  and 
temporary  as  the  criterion  of  human  value. 

The  men  and  women  who  come  to  school  are  wage- 
earners.  They  work  hard  and  come  to  school  tired. 
If  they  are  sluggish  and  slow  to  respond,  let  the  teacher 
remember  that  the  pace  in  American  industries  is  tax- 
ing on  the  nerves  and  muscles  of  workers.  Hard  work 
seriously  interferes  with  the  process  of  Americaniza- 
tion ;  men  and  women  who  work  from  ten  to  twelve  hours 
a  day  cannot  be  expected  to  attend  English  classes  regu- 
larly for  three  or  four  evenings  a  week. 

Many  foreigners  come  to  school  in  unique  garments 
—  women  come  with  shawls  or  kerchiefs  over  their 
heads,  and  their  garments  are  not  of  American  make ; 
men  come  in  their  sheepskin  coats,  flannel  shirts,  boots 
and  caps ;  some  come  with  hair  disheveled,  dirty  linen, 
faces  and  hands  unwashed  ;  these  are  unpleasant  things, 
and  yet  for  the  great  work  of  Americanization,  the  teacher 
will  not  be  prejudiced  against  the  pupils.  We  are  all 
creatures  of  environment,  and  it  takes  time  to  pass  out 
of  the  old  into  the  new.  Nothing,  however,  is  more 


92  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

gratifying  to  the  teacher  than  to  observe  the  gradual 
change  in  dress  and  personal  appearance  under  his 
leadership.  I  have  seen  a  group  of  Russians  and  of  Mexi- 
cans so  transformed  in  three  months  that  one  would  not 
recognize  them  as  the  same  people,  if  one  had  not  been  a 
witness  of  the  transformation. 

A  large  percentage  of  some  nationalities  are  illiterate. 
When  classes  are  organized  for  these  people,  the  illiterates 
lag  behind  the  literates.  This  discourages  the  laggards 
and  it  will  task  the  ingenuity  of  the  teacher  to  keep  up 
the  interest  of  these  men.  This  has  been  done  in  two 
ways :  first,  by  the  aid  of  volunteer  assistants  —  men 
or  women  interested  in  the  foreign-born  who  are  will- 
ing to  sit  down  with  the  illiterate  and  give  him  special 
help  in  reading  and  writing ;  second,  by  putting  the 
backward  pupil  under  the  care  of  one  of  the  brightest, 
who  gives  him  help  in  reading  and  writing.  The  men- 
tality of  the  laggard  has  much  to  do  with  the  result. 
I  recall  a  group  of  Turks  who  were  illiterate  and  inca- 
pable ;  the  class  was  conducted  in  a  factory,  and  the  man- 
agement decided  that  it  was  hopeless  work.  The  Turks 
were  dismissed  and  the  effort  made  with  more  promising 
subjects. 

The  foreigners  have  considerable  trouble  with  the 
sounding  of  certain  letters  in  English ;  this  is  especially 
the  case  with  the  letters  th,  v,  w,  ng,  wh,  c,  r,  as  well 
as  the  sound  of  some  vowels.  These  difficulties  can  be 
overcome  only  by  the  teacher's  careful  enunciation,  by 
special  drill  in  the  placing  of  vocal  organs,  and  by  cheer- 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  93 

fulness  and  perseverance.  In  this  work  judgment  and 
common  sense  must  be  exercised.  Pupils  who  have 
great  difficulty  in  correct  enunciation  should  not  be  wor- 
ried ;  if  they  do  not  succeed  in  one  lesson,  let  the  matter 
rest  and  take  it  up  again  in  the  next.  Always  be  cheer- 
ful, encourage  the  pupil,  and  your  efforts  will  be  crowned 
with  success. 

The  art  of  correct  spelling  in  English  is  most  difficult 
to  the  foreign-born.  This  is  largely  due  to  the  fact 
that  they  nearly  all  spell  phonetically  in  their  own  tongue, 
but  in  English  the  same  principle  will  not  apply.  Spelling 
English  words  has  to  do  with  the  eye,  and  it  is  only  as 
the  correct  form  of  the  word  is  so  retained  by  this  organ 
that  the  wrong  form  will  be  detected,  that  the  pupil 
will  acquire  the  art  of  spelling.  The  teacher  will  know 
rules  to  aid  in  this  work,  such  as  those  for  the  plural  of 
nouns,  the  formation  of  the  comparison  of  adjectives, 
the  formation  of  adverbs,  the  regular  formation  of  the 
past  tense  of  verbs,  the  prefixes  and  affixes  of  words. 
Other  devices  may  be  resorted  to,  such  as  grouping  words 
in  families,  separating  the  words,  calling  attention  to  the 
effect  of  silent  vowels  on  the  preceding  vowel,  using 
colored  chalk  for  emphasis,  etc.  All  these  are  only 
aids,  however,  and  the  foreigner  who  learns  to  spell  cor- 
rectly in  English  must  keep  a  dictionary  near  him  and 
never  pass  a  word  when  in  doubt  as  to  the  correct  spell- 
ing. Constant  watchfulness  and  long  practice  is  the 
price  to  be  paid  for  the  mastery  of  correct  spelling  in 
English. 


94  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

2.  Organizing  Classes.  The  fifteen  million  foreign- 
born  people  in  the  United  States  represent  more  than 
fifty  nationalities.  They  differ  much  in  appearance,  in 
previous  culture,  in  mental  capacity,  in  temperament, 
and  in  the  proximity  of  their  mother  tongue  to  Eng- 
lish or  its  remoteness  from  it.  A  Swede  learns  English 
readily  ;  a  Chinese  has  untold  difficulties  ;  the  majority 
of  Portuguese  are  illiterate ;  all  Finns  can  read  and  write ; 
the  Italian  is  mercurial,  the  Lithuanian  phlegmatic ; 
the  Syrian  is  mentally  alert ;  the  White  Russian  is  stolid. 
These  differences  in  the  language,  mentality,  and  tem- 
perament must  be  studied  before  successful  schools  can 
be  organized. 

In  organizing  classes,  the  teacher  must  take  account 
of  race  psychology.  Every  immigrant  belongs  to  some 
race,  and  he  bears  its  peculiar  stamp,  both  in  mind  and  in 
body.  Race  heritage  cannot  be  cast  away  at  will. 
Americanization  work  has  made  little  progress  among 
some  peoples  in  the  United  States,  because  we  have  for- 
gotten to  take  account  of  these  formative  forces  in  their 
mental  make-up,  and  arrange  our  program  accordingly. 

Men  who  have  accumulated  an  intellectual  possession 
under  social  systems  and  political  institutions  wholly 
different  from  those  in  the  United  States  cannot  be  put 
in  the  same  class.  When  I  was  on  the  Pacific  coast, 
I  witnessed  an  effort  to  organize  a  class  made  up  of 
Japanese  and  Russians.  It  was  not  possible,  and  the 
teacher  never  would  have  courted  failure  if  he  had 
considered  the  racial  heritage  of  each.  It  would  be  an 


TEACHING   ENGLISH  95 

advantage  from  an  educational  point  of  view  if  all  im- 
migrants could  throw  off  mental  peculiarities  just  as  they 
lay  aside  the  peculiar  costumes  of  their  country.  We 
deal,  however,  with  mature  minds,  which  are  as  furnished 
rooms,  and  the  occupant  often  fails  to  realize  why  he 
cannot  with  propriety  join  a  class  made  up  of  men 
wholly  different  in  mental  equipment,  tastes,  and 
customs. 

I  believe  that  men  and  women  should  be  organized 
into  different  classes ;  the  male  and  the.  female  are  dif- 
ferent creations ;  their  life  work  is  different ;  their  in- 
terests in  life  are  different.  The  foreign-born  males  are 
employed  in  the  mines,  in  mills,  in  factories,  in  metal 
works,  in  rubber  works,  in  chemical  plants.  If  the  men 
are  to  be  helped  in  their  work,  they  must  be  taught  lessons 
bearing  directly  on  the  work  they  do.  The  foreign- 
speaking  female  is  interested  in  the  home,  in  domestic 
service,  in  textile  trades,  in  needle  trades ;  a  few  are 
found  in  machine  shops,  yards,  etc.,  but  they  are  ex- 
ceptions. In  order  to  help  the  foreign-speaking  woman, 
the  lessons  must  deal  with  subjects  within  the  range  of 
her  experience ;  if  this  is  done,  the  men  will  not  be  in- 
terested, and  vice  versa. 

Classes  also  should  be  small ;  not  more  than  fifteen 
if  the  teacher  can  help  it.  If  the  number  rises  to  twenty, 
better  work  can  be  done  if  the  class  is  divided  according 
to  grade.  The  prime  reason  for  small  classes  is  the  need 
of  giving  the  men  individual  attention.  The  differ- 
ence between  man  and  man  in  the  class  is  at  best  so  great 


96  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

that  each  must  receive  personal  attention,  if  good  work 
is  to  be  done.  In  an  industry  employing  ten  thousand 
men,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  every  country  in  Europe, 
as  well  as  many  countries  in  South  America,  Asia,  and 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  represented  among  the  employees. 
These  men  differ  greatly  in  capacity  and  previous  train- 
ing, and  when  organized  into  classes,  both  teacher  and 
pupils  will  do  their  best  work  when  they  come  together 
in  small  groups,  carefully  classified  and  graded. 

Attention  should  be  given  to  the  physical  condition 
of  the  men  attending  evening  classes.  A  tired  body 
means  a  slow  mind.  The  harder  kinds  of  physical  work 
unfit  men  for  mental  work.  Railroad  workers  go  to 
sleep  over  their  lessons.  Foreigners  who  meet  in  rooms 
that  are  either  too  cold  or  too  hot  are  torpid  because  of 
atmospheric  conditions.  The  teacher  can  do  much  in 
making  the  pupils  physically  comfortable  in  the  class- 
room, but  he  is  helpless  as  regards  the  drain  on  their 
energy  in  the  industries.  If  foreigners  attending  school 
work  so  hard  during  the  day  that  all  their  strength  is 
consumed,  they  will  be  poor  students  —  providing  we 
are  able  to  induce  them  to  join  a  class  at  all. 

The  classroom  should  also  be  adorned  with  pictures 
and  maps  that  will  impress  the  pupils  with  the  spirit  of 
America.  A  good  map  is  necessary,  and  on  the  walls 
should  be  the  pictures  of  men  and  women  famous  in  the 
founding  and  making  of  this  Republic.  The  school 
should  be  more  than  simply  a  place  where  English  is 
taught — it  should  be  a  dynamic  force  driving  every  foreign- 


TEACHING   ENGLISH  97 

born  person  frequenting  it  with  irresistible  power  into 
the  alluring  paths  of  American  democracy. 

3.  The  Material  to  Be  Taught.  There  are  many 
books  on  the  market  to  teach  the  foreigner  the  English 
language.  All  of  them  have  merit,  none  of  them  is 
perfect.  There  are,  however,  certain  principles  to  fol- 
low, no  matter  what  system  or  book  the  teacher  uses. 

The  closer  the  material  of  the  lesson  is  tied  to  the 
interest  of  the  pupil,  the  better  the  result.  In  the  city 
of  Detroit,  two  thousand  children,  ignorant  of  the  Eng- 
lish language,  enter  the  public  schools  each  year.  To 
teach  these  children  our  language  so  that  they  may  enter 
the  grammar  grades  cannot  be  done  by  books,  but  by 
play.  Put  a  Polish  child  of  four  years  among  a  group  of 
American  children,  and  he  has  no  difficulty  in  learn- 
ing the  English  language.  The  adult  man  and  woman 
have  their  interests  in  life,  and  when  the  lessons  bear 
directly  on  these  interests,  the  pupils  are  alert  and  eager 
to  learn. 

The  prime  need  of  every  foreign-speaking  man  is 
ability  to  converse  in  simple,  everyday  English,  about 
the  common  affajrs  of  life.  Hence,  lessons  to  help  this 
man  and  woman  to  understand  the  simple  sounds  of  our 
tongue  and  to  make  these  sounds,  are  of  first  importance. 
The  needs  of  the  foreigners  are  just  the  same  as  our 
own  —  they  want  food,  shelter,  clothing,  work,  social 
intercourse,  and  an  understanding  of  their  new  environ- 
ment. Around  the  foreign-speaking  person  is  a  world  which 
is  closed  to  him  because  of  the  barrier  of  language ;  our 


98  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

work  is  to  help  him  to  enter  this  larger  world.  He  can 
do  so  only  as  he  masters  the  language  of  the  street  and 
the  mart,  of  the  press  and  the  home,  of  the  mine  and  the 
mill.  Hence,  in  the  classroom,  the  emphasis  for  the 
first  three  months  of  English  instruction  should  be  on 
training  the  ear  and  the  vocal  organs,  so  that  the  for- 
eigner may  converse  in  simple,  everyday  English.  Read- 
ing and  writing  should  not  be  neglected,  but  during  this 
period  they  should  take  the  secondary  place. 

The  teacher  should  know  thoroughly  and  well  one 
scientific  method  of  teaching  language.  Let  him  choose 
any  master  he  pleases  —  Gouin,  Berlitz,  Ollendorf,  Rob- 
ertson, Rosenthal  —  but  let  him  understand  his  prin- 
ciples, know  how  to  apply  them,  and  be  able  to  teach 
in  a  masterful  manner.  It  is  well  for  the  teacher  to  be 
conversant  with  all  methods  of  language  teaching,  but 
he  should  master  that  which  appeals  to  him  and  use  it 
in  his  work.  Master  one  method,  be  a  slave  to  none. 
Never  lean  so  hard  upon  a  guide  that  you  lose  the  use 
of  your  own  feet  and  hands.  Let  the  Master  Mind  be 
to  you  what  the  engines  in  the  steamer  are  to  the  cap- 
tain —  they  drive  the  ship,  but  the  captain  has  his  hand 
on  the  helm  to  direct  the  vessel.  Keep  the  gateways 
of  your  mental  apparatus  open,  and  when  you  digress, 
do  so  with  discretion. 

There  are  certain  things  men  and  women  wish  to  do. 
One  of  the  first  things  a  wise  mother  teaches  her  child 
is  the  address  of  the  home,  and  I  have  not  found  a  child 
anywhere  who  did  not  jump  with  joy  when  he  first  wrote 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  99 

his  name.  The  foreigner  wants  to  write  his  name  in 
English,  and  if  he  is  taught  to  write  correctly  the  ad- 
dress of  the  house  in  which  he  lives,  he  feels  happy.  A 
Russian  in  the  General  Electric  plant  in  Schenectady 
learned  to  write  his  name  in  English,  and  so  proud  was 
he  of  his  accomplishment  that  the  following  day  he  wrote 
it  in  every  place  he  could  in  the  shop  in  which  he  worked. 
In  the  Standard  Oil  plant  in  Bayonne,  scores  of  foreigners 
had  never  seen  their  names  spelled  correctly  until  a  sym- 
pathetic teacher  took  pains  to  do  so,  and  earned  the  grati- 
tude of  the  men  he  taught.  Many  industrial  concerns 
wish  the  men  to  sign  the  pay  envelope  receipt,  and  when 
the  men  can  write  their  signature,  it  gratifies  both  men 
and  company. 

The  teacher  should  study  the  social  and  industrial 
forces  acting  on  the  lives  of  his  pupils.  The  work  they 
perform,  their  quest  for  the  necessities  and  comforts  of 
life,  the  society  they  frequent,  and  the  church  in  which 
they  worship,  affect  their  lives  as  well  as  that  of  the 
whole  community.  These  forces,  shaping  the  lives  of 
men,  must  be  studied.  We  all  want  to  be  understood 
and  the  only  way  the  instructors  of  foreigners  may  hope 
to  understand  their  pupils  is  by  studying  the  various 
factors  contributing  to  their  lives.  The  school  and  the 
industries  should  be  brought  closer  together ;  the  teacher 
and  the  employer  should  cooperate.  When  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  brought  a  man  familiar  with 
the  processes  in  the  plant  and  a  pedagogue  together 
in  order  to  prepare  lessons  for  its  foreigners,  it  followed 


100  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

the  path  which  must  be  trod  by  all  who  expect  to  give 
immigrants  successful  instruction  in  practical  English. 

For  pupils  who  have  acquired  a  knowledge  of  English 
equal  to  that  of  the  child  in  the  sixth  grammar  grade,  a 
book  containing  lessons  on  government,  customs  and 
habits  in  America,  epochs  in  American  history,  etc., 
should  be  used.  Every  pupil  in  school  who  is  learning 
our  language  should  have  his  face  set  toward  naturaliza- 
tion, and  the  more  he  can  learn  about  the  country,  the 
plan  of  American  government,  the  institutions  of  the 
country,  and  the  ways  of  the  American  people,  the  better 
for  him  and  for  us.  The  shaping  of  men's  and  women's 
minds  to  the  task  of  playing  their  part  conscientiously 
and  well  in  this  Republic  is  a  task  that  challenges  the  best 
that  is  in  the  Americanization  worker. 

4.  The  Teacher.  The  high  calling  of  teaching  foreign- 
ers the  English  language  should  appeal  to  the  best  in  the 
men  and  women  forming  the  army  of  patriotic  educators 
in  America.  It  is  the  first  step  in  molding  the  thought 
of  thousands  of  aliens  whose  hearts  are  kindly  disposed 
toward  our  country ;  and  who  in  turn  transmit  their  im- 
pressions and  ideas  to  their  children.  These  two  groups — 
the  immigrants  and  their  descendants  —  make  up  more 
than  one  third  of  the  white  population  of  the  nation,  and 
the  man  and  woman  guiding  and  directing  these  "Ameri- 
cans in  the  Making"  have  an  opportunity  to  influence  not 
only  the  men  learning  English  in  the  class,  but  also  their 
descendants  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  America  of  to-day  is  largely  the 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  101 

product  of  the  thirty-four  million  immigrants  who  have 
landed  in  the  last  hundred  years ;  may  we  not  add  that 
the  America  of  to-morrow  will  largely  be  determined  by 
the  work  of  assimilation  now  carried  on  by  the  teachers 
of  the  foreign-born  and  their  children? 

The  first  step  in  assimilating  ninety  per  cent  of  those 
landed  in  America  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  must 
take  place  in  the  classroom.  The  other  ten  per  cent 
know  English,  which  is  not  always  an  advantage  in  the 
process  of  assimilation.  Ninety  out  of  every  hundred 
must  learn  our  language,  which  is  very  difficult.  It  is, 
however,  a  necessary  achievement  before  they  may 
understand  America  and  enjoy  its  abounding  life.  To 
thousands  of  men,  the  gate  is  narrow.  Those  who  know 
how  hard  it  is  for  Slavs,  Latins,  and  Turanians  to  acquire 
our  tongue,  feel  that  a  method  of  teaching  should  be 
arranged  which  conserves  the  energy  of  both  teacher  and 
pupil.  It  is  therefore  advisable  that  the  teacher  should 
carefully  choose  a  scientific  and  tested  system  before  he 
begins  to  teach  English.  Some  believe  that  they  can 
depend  on  their  own  initiative.  This  the  average  in- 
structor can  do  for  a  month  or  two,  but  he  who  can 
depend  on  it  for  a  year  or  more  is  a  genius.  A  method 
that  taxes  the  ingenuity  of  the  teacher  continuously 
will  not  work,  for  it  is  too  severe  a  drain  upon  his  energy. 

The  gulf  separating  a  refined,  cultured,  and  sensitive 
teacher  from  some  of  the  most  ignorant,  illiterate,  and 
unpolished  immigrants  is  often  believed  to  be  impassable. 
Many  a  kindly  disposed  school  superintendent  has  failed 


102  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

to  bridge  it.  Ought  this  work  to  be  intrusted  to  teachers 
who  will  have  difficulty  in  descending  to  the  level  of  the 
ignorant  foreigner,  or  to  persons  of  little  or  no  culture, 
who  are  better  able  to  help  the  illiterate  aliens  in  their 
first  lessons  in  English,  and  guide  them  in  their  initial 
efforts  to  conform  to  American  habits  and  customs? 
The  teaching  of  English  to  aliens  demands  the  best 
qualified  teachers,  and  the  richer  their  minds  in  knowl- 
edge and  culture,  the  better  for  the  foreigner  and  the 
country.  The  quality  of  their  work,  however,  will 
depend  as  much  on  warmth  of  heart  as  on  intellect.  The 
instructor  who  cannot  sympathize  with  the  illiterate 
foreigner,  though  he  be  a  master  in  the  art  of  teaching, 
would  better  be  assigned  to  other  work. 

Teachers  who  know  most  are  often  not  the  best  to 
instruct  a  class  of  foreigners.  Even  a  man  who  is  peda- 
gogically  untrained,  who  does  not  understand  scientific 
principles  as  to  the  use  of  what  he  knows,  is  sometimes 
surprisingly  successful  in  helping  illiterate  aliens.  His 
success  is  due  to  his  dominance  over  their  feelings. 
Bonds  of  affection  are  forged  between  pupils  and  teacher 
which  cannot  be  broken  without  disrupting  the  organ- 
ization. The  man  knows  not  the  art  of  teaching,  but 
he  is  a  master  in  winning  the  hearts  of  men. 

The  work  of  Americanization  needs  these  two  types  — 
the  trained  educator  and  the  untrained  leader  of  men. 
In  every  community  both  kinds  are  found  and  should  be 
enlisted.  The  teaching  of  foreigners  should  be  in  the 
hands  of  patriotic  and  trained  teachers,  who  sympathize 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  103 

with  all  aliens  who  want  to  learn  English,  but  these 
cultured  men  will  find  their  work  strengthened  when  they 
call  to  their  aid  less  cultured  men  who  know  how  to  win 
and  hold  foreign-born  adults. 

The  Americanization  worker  should  be  willing  to 
sacrifice  something  for  these  men.  He  should  be  will- 
ing to  give  more  than  he  receives.  He  should  be  the 
true  missionary  of  American  democracy  and  represent 
all  that  is  worth  while  in  America.  The  work  is  not  to 
be  measured  by  the  number  of  kilograms  of  energy  he 
loses,  but  by  the  molding  of  men  and  women  into  good 
American  citizens.  Some  of  the  best  men  I  have  seen 
in  the  work  were  not  paid  a  cent.  Rain  or  snow,  frost 
or  blizzard  could  not  keep  them  away  from  their  classes, 
and  no  more  could  the  elements  keep  away  the  pupils; 
both  pupils  and  teacher  had  risen  above  the  level  of 
commercial  ties  and  moved  in  an  atmosphere  of  mutual 
love  and  respect.  We  need  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice  in 
the  work,  and  men  £nd  women  who  possess  it  —  other 
things  being  equal  —  are  the  ones  to  be  enlisted.  The 
foreign-speaking  person  wants  English,  but  he  wants 
much  more  a  friend,  'a  counselor,  a  guide. 

The  pupils  come  to  school  voluntarily.  This  is  to  the 
advantage  of  the  teacher.  He  deals  with  men  who  are 
conscious  of  a  need,  whose  minds  are  active,  who  are 
anxious  to  drink  in  what  he  has  to  impart.  Every  one 
present  is  eager  to  receive  direction  and  stimulation. 
The  teacher  is  in  the  position  of  a  gardener  who  plants 
flowers  in  fertile  soil  —  if  he  does  his  work  well,  the  plants 


104  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

will  grow  and  blossom.  Earnest  men  arejiot  discouraged 
by  difficulties.  They  learn  in  spite  of  physical  hindrances, 
unfavorable  conditions,  little  or  no  equipment  —  they 
are  resolved  to  learn,  and  they  succeed.  Is  there  a  teacher 
anywhere,  with  pedagogical  instinct,  who  will  not  be 
inspired  by  a  group  of  adults,  assembled  in  a  hall, 
waiting  for  him  to  inoculate  them  with  language  and 
ideas  that  they  may  become  fit  candidates  for  citizenship 
in  the  United  States?  Men  who  are  eager  to  drink  will 
quench  their  thirst  with  gladness.  Happy  are  the  hours 
they  spend  in  school,  for  each  lesson  enlarges  their 
participation  in  the  life  of  America. 

The  pupils  should  come  to  class  twice  a  week,  and  if 
they  insist  on  more  evenings  than  that,  never  make  it 
more  than  three.  The  evenings  should  be  evenly  divided 
in  the  week.  If  it  is  two  nights  a  week,  they  should  be 
Monday  and  Thursday,  or  Tuesday  and  Friday,  or  Wednes- 
day and  Saturday.  If  the  men  demand  three  nights, 
then  they  should  be  alternate  evenings.  The  reason  for 
this  is  that  the  pupils  need  time  to  digest  their  lessons. 
When  they  are  taught  four  nights  in  succession,  they  get 
more  than  they  can  digest,  and  the  result  is  congestion  and 
confusion.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  foreign-born  could 
not  assemble  for  instruction  in  Americanization  on  Sunday. 
This  is  the  day  on  which  they  have  most  leisure,  and  it  is 
the  day  on  which  the  foreign-born  single  man  dissipates. 
Give  them  a  pleasant  place  to  go  to  learn  our  language 
and  become  acquainted  with  the  men  who  made  America, 
and  it  will  be  a  benediction  to  them  and  to  us. 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  105 

It  is  not  necessary  for  the  teacher  to  know  the  language 
of  the  group  he  teaches.  Indeed,  better  progress  will 
be  made  if  the  teacher  knows  nothing  of  the  tongue 
of  the  men  he  teaches ;  let  him  depend  wholly  on  the 
direct  method.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  men  taught 
by  the  direct  method  will  be  under  pressure  to  under- 
stand the  teacher  when  he  speaks,  and  they  will  do  their 
best  to  make  themselves  understood.  If  the  teacher  in 
charge  of  a  class  can  talk  to  the  men  in  their  mother 
tongue,  the  atmosphere  of  the  class  will  not  be  English ; 
the  men  will  contract  the  habit  of  thinking  in  their 
mother  tongue  and  translating  into  English,  and  the 
idioms  of  their  own  language  will  inevitably  creep  into 
the  English  they  learn.  In  addition  to  this,  the  group 
of  foreign-speaking  men  who  secure  the  services  of  a 
native-born  teacher  will,  as  a  rule,  acquire  better  pro- 
nunciation and  enunciation  than  they  can  from  a  man 
who  has  a  foreign  accent. 

The  wise  teacher  will  prepare  his  lesson.  Teachers 
may  think  that  they  know  enough  English  without  prep- 
aration to  teach  a  group  of  foreigners.  If  the  question 
of  teaching  were  a  matter  of  talking,  their  judgment 
would  be  right.  But  talk  without  a  definite  aim  is  not 
to  be  thought  of  in  this  connection.  The  conscientious 
teacher  will  appear  before  his  class  fully  prepared  to 
give  the  men  very  definite  instruction.  If  he  knows 
his  lesson,  he  will  teach  in  a  clear  and  convincing  manner, 
and  the  instruction  will  be  tempered  according  to  the 
capacity  and  needs  of  the  pupils.  If  he  digresses  from  the 


106  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

mapped-out  path,  he  will  do  so  with  judgment.  Defi- 
niteness  is  the  secret  of  success  in  teaching.  Before 
each  lesson  the  teacher  should  know  exactly  the  goal 
he  wants  to  reach  ;  if  he  reaches  it,  he  will  have  the  satis- 
faction of  work  well  done;  if  he  does  not,  he  should 
search  and  find  out  what  is  the  cause  of  failure.  Give 
time  to  the  preparation  of  the  lesson,  and  you  will  save 
time  for  yourself  and  your  pupils  in  the  classroom.  The 
man  who  knows  his  work  will  never  be  confounded,  no 
matter  whp  visits  the  classroom ;  he  has  confidence 
which  comes  from  mastery ;  he  moves  steadily  to  the 
goal  and  carries  his  class  with  him. 

The  Americanization  teacher  must  exercise  patience 
and  never  be  weary  of  well  doing.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  teacher  must  talk  plainly,  but  no  matter 
how  plainly  he  talks  the  pupils  will  not  master  the  words 
and  sentences  unless  he  repeats  and  repeats.  How  often 
does  the  mother  repeat  a  word  she  wants  the  child  to  say. 
There  is  no  arithmetic  table  for  works  of  love.  Of 
course,  judgment  must  be  exercised  in  this  as  in  all  else ; 
the  teacher  cannot  repeat  and  repeat  until  the  dullest 
member  of  the  class  is  perfect  in  pronunciation.  He 
must  find  a  path  somewhere  between  the  brightest  pupil 
and  the  dullest,  and,  leaning  on  the  side  of  sympathy 
with  those  who  find  the  work  most  difficult,  he  will  win 
and  hold  the  brightest. 

The  teacher  should  be  a  gentleman  or  a  lady  at  all 
times.  The  class  will  talk  as  the  teacher  talks  and  pro- 
nounce words  as  he  does.  They  will  not  stop  at  this, 


TEACHING  ENGLISH  107 

they  will  copy  his  dress,  act  as  he  does,  and  watch  him 
when  he  least  suspects  it.  He  is  the  personification  of 
America  to  them,  and  they  will  love  America  as  they 
love  him.  They  will  be  educated  far  more  by  his 
example  than  by  precept.  Many  men  who  are  illiter- 
ate have  keen  insight.  They  read  the  mind  of  the 
teacher,  they  feel  the  sincerity  of  his  patriotism,  they 
estimate  his  appreciation  of  American  institutions ;  they 
come  to  know  what  his  views  are  of  American  political 
life ;  they  sense  his  valuation  of  great  men,  their  achieve- 
ments and  their  contribution  to  the  nation;  they  dis- 
cover what  is  the  glow  on  the  horizon  of  his  outlook  into 
the  future  of  these  United  States,  and  they  reflect  his 
point  of  view  in  feeling,  thought,  and  action.  It  is  this 
which  makes  the  teacher  so  potential  a  force  in  molding 
the  minds  of  these  coming  citizens.  He  is  the  motor 
center  on  which  depends,  in  a  large  degree,  the  direction 
taken  by  these  souls  as  related  to  America.  In  his 
hands  are  the  reins  which  guide  and  control  men  who 
long  since  saw  in  a  vision  the  promised  land  and  are 
now  longing  to  enter  it. 

REFERENCES 

THE  ART  OP  TEACHING  AND  STUDYING  LANGUAGES:  Fran- 
Qois  Gouin. 

THE  CULTURE  OF  THE  INTELLECT:  John  Stuart  Blackie, 
Chapter  I. 

IDEALISM  IN  EDUCATION  :  Herman  H.  Home,  Chapter  V. 

EDUCATION  OF  ADULT  IMMIGRANTS:  National  Education  As- 
sociation, 1915,  pp.  439-445. 


108  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

ENGLISH  FOR  COMING  AMERICANS  :  Peter  Roberts. 

IMMIGRANT  EDUCATION  :  Annual  Report  (1916),  Commis- 
sioner of  Education. 

PRINCIPLES  OF  SECONDARY  EDUCATION:  Alexander  Inglis, 
Chapter  IX. 

SCHOOLS  OF  TOMORROW  :  John  Dewey,  Chapter  XL 

ENGLISH  SOUNDS  FOR  FOREIGN  TONGUES  :  Sarah  Tracey 
Barrows. 


CHAPTER  VI 
NATURALIZATION 

MANY  more  immigrants  have  come  to  the  United  States 
in  the  last  two  decades  than  the  total  number  of  aliens 
made  citizens  in  the  same  period.  The  rights  of  citi- 
zenship are  conferred  on  the  foreign-born  by  the  United 
States.  The  average  number  admitted  per  year  to  citi- 
zenship in  pre-war  days  was  about  100,000 ;  the  aver- 
age number  of  potential  voters  entering  the  country 
annually  was  more  than  five  times  that  figure.  During 
the  five  years  from  1914  to  1919,  the  inflow  of  aliens  fell 
off  from  normal  about  seventy-five  per  cent ;  the  net  in- 
crease to  the  population  during  this  period  is  less  than 
five  hundred  thousand  —  431,884,  or  approximately 
86,400  per  annum.  The  tide  is  again  rising.  About 
600,000  will  arrive  in  1920.  If  the  present  rate  of 
increase  continues,  within  a  year  we  will  reach  pre-war 
numbers  —  more  than  a  million  a  year. 

One  of  the  effects  of  the  war  was  a  stimulation  of  in- 
terest in  the  naturalization  of  aliens.  As  a  result,  in 
1919  about  a  million  men  declared  their  intention  to  be-  ' 
come  citizens  and  nearly  one  fourth  of  that  number  were 
made  citizens.  Notwithstanding  this  commendable 
activity,  the  field  of  service  for  naturalization  is  still 

109 


110  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

immense.  More  than  three  and  a  half  million  male 
adults  in  the  country  are  still  unnaturalized.  If  we  add 
to  this  number  the  wives  of  aliens  —  potential  voters  — 
the  total  would  be  between  five  and  six  millions. 

There  has  appeared,  in  the  last  few  years,  commend- 
able activity  on  the  part  of  government  officials  in  pro- 
moting the  teaching  and  the  preparation  of  coming 
Americans  for  citizenship.  The  government  has  been 
reluctant  to  make  adequate  appropriation  to  meet  the 
increased  work  involved  in  the  increased  number  of 
applicants ;  this,  however,  will  be  remedied,  so  that  the 
congestion  now  obtaining  in  courts  in  first-class  cities 
will  be  removed.  In  the  present  chapter,  I  will  discuss 
government  regulations  for  coming  citizens,  and  the 
preparation  of  foreigners  for  citizenship. 

1.  Government  Regulations.  The  laws  governing 
the  naturalization  of  aliens  are  made  by  the  federal 
government ;  the  conferring  of  the  right  of  citizenship 
is  in  the  hands  of  judges  of  courts  of  record.  Natural- 
ization is  a  privilege ;  it  is  a  process  of  adoption  of  an 
alien  as  one  of  its  own  citizens  by  the  national  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States.  It  is  not  a  right  the  alien 
can  demand ;  it  is  not  a  privilege  to  be  secured  without 
strict  observance  of  prescribed  regulations.  The  exe- 
cution of  the  legal  requirements  is  vested  in  the  Bureau 
of  Naturalization,  which  is  a  branch  of  the  Federal  De- 
partment of  Labor.  The  process  of  naturalization  of 
aliens  is  carried  on  in  courts  established  in  the  several 
states.  They  must  be  courts  of  record,  and  may  be  county 


NATURALIZATION  111 

or  district  courts  and  federal  courts.  The  former  num- 
ber about  2300,  the  latter  about  219. 

Some  judges  say  that  an  alien  has  no  constitutional 
right  in  America.  This  is  not  correct.  The  alien  may 
be  looked  upon  as  a  guest,  whose  rights  grow  out  of 
treaties,  which  are  interpreted  by  the  Federal  Admin- 
istrative Department.  He  has  a  right  to  the  equal 
protection  of  the  laws  as  to  immunity  from  deprivation 
of  life,  liberty,  and  property  without  due  process  of  law. 
The  opportunity  to  become  a  citizen  must  be  petitioned 
for  by  the  alien,  and  before  he  can  acquire  it,  he  must 
possess  certain  personal  qualifications  and  must  conform 
to  positive  rules.  Immigrants  of  Aryan  and  African 
stock,  if  they  come  up  to  the  standard  set  by  the  gov- 
ernment, may  be  naturalized ;  those  of  Asiatic  blood  — 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Koreans,  Hindus,  etc.  —  cannot  be 
naturalized.  The  law  governing  the  entrance  of  all 
nations  into  America  is  the  same,  excepting  the  Chinese 
laborer,  who  is  excluded  by  law. 

When  aliens  apply  for  naturalization,  the  law  is  that 
all  free  white  peoples  and  those  of  African  blood  may  be 
naturalized.  Hence,  those  groups  from  among  the 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Koreans,  Malays,  Hindus,  etc.,  who 
are  allowed  to  come  into  the  country  cannot  become  citi- 
zens. The  free  white  or  colored  (African)  man,  if  he 
qualifies,  may  apply  for  adoption  and  be  allowed  to  join 
the  family.  Of  course,  the  children  of  Asiatics,  Malays, 
and  Hindus,  born  in  America  or  its  dependencies  and  living 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  whose  parents 


112  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

look  upon  America  as  their  home,  are  citizens.  If  these, 
however,  when  of  age,  decline  to  live  under  the  juris- 
diction of  the  United  States,  then  they  take  the  citi- 
zenship of  their  parents.  Thousands  of  young  men, 
descendants  of  Asiatics,  in  the  coast  states  and  in  the 
Philippine  Islands,  are  to-day  citizens  of  America. 
The  same  holds  true  of  native-born  sons  of  aliens  of  other 
nations.  Of  course,  if  the  son  of  the  foreign-born  does 
not  wish  citizenship  in  the  United  States,  he  must  leave 
the  country  and  take  up  citizenship  in  the  land  whence 
his  father  came.  In  some  instances,  the  government 
of  the  country  from  which  the  father  came  will  not  recog- 
nize the  right  of  the  son  to  become  a  subject  of  America ; 
if  a  boy  born  of  Italian  parents  visits  the  land  of  his 
fathers,  he  will  be  looked  upon  as  an  Italian  subject.1 
This  introduces  the  question  of  dual  citizenship,  which 
raises  perplexing  situations  when  those  who  regard  them- 
selves citizens  of  the  United  States  go  abroad. 

The  Constitution  charges  Congress  to  establish  "  a 
uniform  rule  of  naturalization."  This  it  has  done  and, 
as  far  as  America  is  concerned,  the  naturalized  alien  is 
adopted  by  uniform  procedure  in  every  part  of  the  land. 
The  rights  of  naturalized  citizens,  however,  are  deter- 
mined by  international  law.  If  the  matter  is  covered 

1  Membership  in  a  nation  originally  was  wholly  dependent  on  ties  of 
blood  or  adoption.  It  had  nothing  to  do  with  territorial  limitations. 
The  doctrine  that  place  of  birth  determines  nationality  is,  comparatively 
speaking,  of  recent  date.  It  only  came  into  existence  in  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  at  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  and  has  its  origin 
in  the  religious  freedom  guaranteed  certain  German  states. 


NATURALIZATION  113 

by  international  treaty,  the  rights  of  adopted  sons  are 
clear ;  if  it  is  not,  then  the  United  States  must  recognize 
the  validity  of  the  laws  of  other  countries.  Hence, 
we  cannot  complain  if  Turkey  or  Greece  or  Russia 
denies  the  right  of  its  subjects  to  change  their  allegiance 
without  the  consent  of  the  home  government.  Uniform- 
ity in  the  question  of  the  rights  of  naturalized  citizens 
can  be  obtained  only  when  the  governments  of  all 
civilized  countries  come  together  and  agree  as  to  the 
status  of  naturalized  citizens  as  well  as  that  of  sons  born 
to  citizens  residing  abroad. 

During  the  recent  war  many  young  men,  sons  of  for- 
eign-born, considered  themselves  American  citizens,  but 
found  that  if  they  went  abroad  to  the  land  of  their  fathers, 
that  government  would  not  regard  them  as  such.  Even 
in  the  case  of  immigrants  who  have  become  citizens  of 
the  United  States  by  naturalization,  some  European 
governments  will  not  recognize  the  validity  of  the  process 
unless  the  applicant  secures  the  consent  of  the  home 
government  to  the  change.  An  alien  from  such  a  coun- 
try who  takes  out  his  naturalization  papers  without  the 
consent  of  the  government  in  the  fatherland  is  liable 
to  arrest  and  imprisonment  if  he  visits  his  former  home. 
When  Germany  entered  the  late  war,  it  had  a  treaty 
with  the  United  States  recognizing  the  right  of  a  Ger- 
man-born alien  to  become  a  citizen  of  America ;  the 
Reichstag,  however,  abrogated  the  treaty  and  made  every 
German  of  military  age  born  in  the  United  States  sub- 
ject to  military  service.  When  an  American-born  son 


114  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

of  a  Frenchman,  who  had  migrated  to  America  and  who 
had  not  taken  out  his  naturalization  papers,  asked  the 
government  of  the  United  States  whether  or  not  the 
French  government  would  acknowledge  him  as  an  Ameri- 
can subject  if  he  went  to  France,  the  reply  was  that  he 
had  better  not  try  it. 

A  United  States  citizen  living  in  China,  who  has  a 
son  born  in  that  Republic,  will  never  think  of  his  boy 
as  a  Chinese  citizen ;  neither  will  the  government  of  the 
United  States  think  of  him  as  a  subject  of  China ;  the 
same  is  true  if  a  son  is  born  to  an  American  citizen  in 
South  America ;  citizenship  in  these  instances  follows 
the  tie  of  blood  ;  but  when  a  male  child  is  born  in  America 
of  parents  who  are  aliens,  the  American  way  is  to  count 
the  child  a  citizen  of  this  country ;  in  other  words,  we 
follow  the  rule  that  citizenship  is  determined  by  the  place 
in  which  a  child  may  be  born,  and  not  according  to  the 
blood  of  the  parents. 

An  international  treaty  between  two  countries  in  many 
instances  regulates  the  status  of  the  naturalized.  In 
the  absence  of  such  a  treaty,  the  laws  regulating  the  ques- 
tion of  citizenship  in  the  country  where  the  child  is  born 
are  followed.  Among  the  leading  nations  of  Christendom, 
citizenship  generally  follows  the  tie  of  blood,  especially 
while  the  child  is  a  minor;  but  should  the  child  when 
he  becomes  of  age  express  a  preference  for  the  country 
in  which  he  was  born,  he  may  be  considered  a  citizen  of 
that  country,  especially  if  he  has  not  resided  in  any 
other. 


NATURALIZATION  115 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  what  is  the  status 
of  the  man  who  has  taken  out  his  first  paper  ?  He  is  not 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  he  has  virtually  re- 
nounced his  allegiance  to  the  government  of  his  father- 
land. Is  he  a  man  without  a  country?  By  an  Act  of 
Congress,  passed  March  2,  1907,  the  Secretary  of  State 
is  authorized  to  issue  a  passport  to  aliens  who  have 
declared  their  intention  to  become  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  who  have  resided  in  the  country  for  three 
continuous  years.  This  passport  will  give  the  declarent 
the  protection  of  the  American  government  in  any  for- 
eign country  in  which  he  may  go,  save  in  the  country 
of  his  birth  and  from  which  he  migrated  to  America. 
The  passport,  however,  will  not  be  good  for  more  than 
six  months  from  the  date  issued. 

If,  after  the  foreign-born  is  fully  naturalized,  he  re- 
sides for  two  successive  years  in  the  country  from  which 
he  came,  it  will  be  presumed  that  he  has  ceased  to  be  an 
American  citizen.  He  can,  however,  present  reasons 
to  a  diplomatic  or  consular  officer  of  the  United  States 
why  the  presumption  should  not  become  a  fact,  which 
reasons  will  be  presented  to  the  Department  of  State 
and  a  decision  will  be  rendered  concerning  the  rules  and 
regulations  under  which  his  American  citizenship  may 
be  made  valid.  If  the  naturalized  citizen  lives  in 
any  other  foreign  country  than  the  land  from  which  he 
came  to  America,  his  citizenship  will  be  presumed  to 
cease  after  five  years'  absence  from  the  United  States, 
unless  substantial  and  satisfactory  evidence  can  be  pre- 


116  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

sented  to  a  diplomatic  or  consular  officer  of  the  United 
States  why  it  should  be  considered  valid.  It  is  also  a 
law  that  no  American  citizen  can  expatriate  himself 
when  America  is  at  war. 

Whenever  a  man  is  naturalized,  his  wife  and  minor 
children  also  become  citizens  of  the  United  States.  If 
an  Italian  woman  marries  an  American,  she  becomes 
a  citizen  of  the  United  States ;  if,  on  the  other  hand, 
an  American  woman  marries  a  Canadian,  she  becomes 
a  Canadian  citizen.  Should  a  subject  of  a  foreign  gov- 
ernment die,  whose  wife  was  a  former  subject  of  the 
United  States,  she  is  free  to  choose  her  citizenship.  For- 
eign-born single  women  can  apply  for  citizenship  by  fol- 
lowing the  lines  laid  down  by  the  federal  government. 
The  wife  of  a  foreign-born  husband  cannot  apply  for  citi- 
zenship. If  the  husband  applies  for  first  papers  and 
dies  before  the  process  of  naturalization  matures,  the 
widow  and  her  minor  children  may  be  naturalized  with- 
out making  a  declaration  of  intention. 

The  nineteenth  amendment  to  the  Constitution  giving 
women  the  right  of  the  franchise  is  passed.  Woman 
suffrage  is  now  the  law  of  the  land.  By  it  the  wives  of 
naturalized  foreign-speaking  men  have  the  right  to  vote. 
Many  of  these  women,  if  they  tried  to  pass  the  naturaliza- 
tion examination  given  aliens  in  a  court  of  record,  would 
never  pass,  and  the  question  is  justly  asked,  ought  they 
to  be  allowed  to  vote?  In  states  where  woman  suffrage 
has  been  in  vogue,  some  judges  demand  that  the  wives 
of  aliens  appear  before  them  when  the  husband  applies 


NATURALIZATION  117 

for  his  final  papers;  if  the  wife  does  not  qualify,  citi- 
zenship is  denied  the  husband,  though  he  may  be  per- 
sonally qualified  to  enter. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  prescribes  the 
process  of  naturalization.  The  immigrant  can  take  out 
his  first  paper  the  day  he  lands  in  America,  but  before  he 
can  take  out  his  second  paper,  he  must  have  been  a  resident 
of  the  United  States  for  five  consecutive  years.  If  an 
alien  has  been  in  the  country  five  or  more  years  and  has 
neglected  to  take  out  his  first  paper,  when  he  does  this 
he  must  wait  for  two  years  before  he  can  petition  for 
his  second  paper.  If  after  he  has  taken  out  his  first 
paper  he  neglects  to  petition  for  his  second  within  seven 
years  of  the  date  of  issuing  the  first,  he  must  again  make  a 
declaration  of  intention  and  wait  two  more  years  before 
he  can  apply  for  his  second.  If  the  alien  has  moved 
from  state  to  state  during  the  five  years,  he  must  reside 
for  one  year  continuously  in  the  state  where  he  expects 
to  get  his  second  paper  before  he  can  make  his  petition, 
and  he  can  establish  the  fact  of  his  residence  for  the  other 
years  by  the  depositions  of  witnesses.  The  clerk  of  the 
court  will  furnish  blank  forms  for  the  depositions  neces- 
sary to  establish  the  fact  of  his  five  years'  continuous 
residence  in  the  country. 

When  the  alien  petitions  for  his  second  paper,  he  must 
take  with  him  his  first  paper  and  two  witnesses,  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  who  have  known  him  for  more 
than  one  year  as  a  resident  of  the  state ;  if  they  can  tes- 
tify to  knowing  him  for  five  continuous  years,  so  much 


118  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

the  better.  If  the  witnesses  are  naturalized  citizens, 
they  should  take  with  them  their  naturalization  papers, 
unless  they  are  well  known  in  the  courthouse.  After 
the  applicant  has  made  his  petition  for  his  second  paper, 
he  must  wait  at  least  ninety  days  before  he  can  get  a  hear- 
ing. It  may  be  that  he  will  have  to  wait  for  more  than 
ninety  days.  I  have  known  men  who  have  been  obliged 
to  wait  for  two  years.  When  the  alien  is  called  before  the 
court,  he  must  bring  with  him  the  same  two  witnesses 
whom  he  had  when  he  petitioned  for  his  second  paper. 
If  one  of  them  dies,  he  must  get  a  special  permit  from 
the  court  to  substitute  another.  If  during  the  time  he 
waits  to  be  called  into  the  court  for  the  final  examina- 
tion, he  moves  to  another  juridical  district,  he  must 
make  a  new  petition  in  the  district  in  which  he  now  re- 
sides and  forfeit  the  four  dollars  he  paid  in  the  district 
from  which  he  moved  in  the  same  state.  The  reason 
for  this  is  that  the  court  will  not  transfer  its  original 
records.  When  one  considers  the  frequent  migration 
of  the  foreign-born,  we  see  how  difficult  it  is  for  him  to 
secure  his  naturalization  papers. 

No  one  who  does  not  believe  in  organized  government, 
or  who  tries  to  overthrow  the  present  government,  or 
who  is  a  polygamist,  or  a  criminal,  or  who  does  not  be- 
lieve in  the  principles  of  the  American  Constitution, 
or  who  has  a  bad  moral  character,  or  who  does  not  know 
how  to  speak,  read,  and  write  the  English  language,  can 
be  made  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  These  facts 
must  be  proved  affirmatively  by  the  applicant  for  natural- 


NATURALIZATION  119 

ization.  He  must  also  renounce  his  former  allegiance, 
and  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  United  States. 

No  court  can  issue  final  papers  within  thirty  days  of 
any  general  election.  This  may  or  may  not  affect  the 
issuing  of  the  first  papers,  according  to  the  way  the  clerk 
of  the  federal  court  interprets  the  law.  In  most  local 
courts  the  thirty-day  regulation  preceding  elections  is 
observed  in  the  issuance  of  the  first  as  well  as  the  second 
paper.  The  reason  for  this  regulation  seems  to  be  that 
the  granting  of  citizenship  papers  immediately  before 
election  may  lead  to  abuses  similar  to  those  common  be- 
fore the  power  was  limited  to  courts  of  record.  If  this 
is  the  spirit  of  the  law,  it  is  far-fetched  to  apply  it  to  the 
granting  of  first  papers. 

If  the  applicant  for  naturalization  carried  any  heredi- 
tary title,  or  if  he  is  a  member  of  any  order  of  nobility 
in  the  state  or  kingdom  from  which  he  came,  he  must 
renounce  the  title  or  the  order  of  nobility,  and  the  re- 
nunciation must  be  recorded,  before  he  can  be  natural- 
ized. If  the  applicant  wishes  to  change  his  name  at  the 
time  he  takes  out  his  naturalization  paper,  he  may  do  so 
by  notifying  the  court  to  this  effect.  The  court  will 
then  authorize  the  change  and  the  certificates  of  nat- 
uralization will  be  issued  accordingly. 

The  United  States  government  makes  special  provision 
for  the  naturalization  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  Thou- 
sands of  aliens  who  joined  the  United  States  Army  in 
the  last  war  were  taught  English  and  the  essentials  of 
citizenship,  and  were  made,  without  cost  to  themselves, 


120  THE   PROBLEM    OF  AMERICANIZATION 

American  citizens.  The  law  governing  this  matter  is 
that  any  alien,  twenty-one  years  of  age  or  over,  who  can 
prove  one  year's  residence,  and  who  has  received  an 
honorable  discharge  from  the  service,  may  petition  for 
naturalization  without  having  made  a  previous  declara- 
tion of  intention.  The  discharge  from  the  service  will 
generally  be  considered  as  proof  of  good  moral  char- 
acter. Many  aliens,  subjects  of  neutral  countries,  claimed 
exemption  from  military  duty  at  the  time  of  the  draft. 
These  find  the  door  of  citizenship  closed  against  them. 
Congress  passed  a  law  in  1918  stating  that  any  alien 
of  military  age  who  had  taken  out  his  first  paper  and 
who  gave  it  up  and  claimed  exemption  from  the  draft, 
shall  forever  thereafter  be  debarred  from  securing  citi- 
zenship in  the  United  States.  The  clerk  of  court,  in 
order  to  carry  out  this  provision  of  the  law,  asks  every 
alien  of  military  age  to  show  his  draft  card,  which  de- 
termines his  status  as  to  possible  naturalization. 

Any  alien  who  has  served  in  the  United  States  Navy 
or  Marine  Corps  for  not  less  than  four  years,  or  who  has 
completed  four  years  in  the  Revenue  Cutter  Service, 
or  the  naval  auxiliary  service,  and  who  has  received  an 
honorable  discharge  or  an  ordinary  discharge  with 
recommendation  for  reenlistment,  may,  on  application, 
be  admitted  to  citizenship  without  any  previous  declara- 
tion of  intention  and  without  proof  of  residence  on  shore ; 
the  court  will  take  the  discharge  as  proof  of  good  moral 
character  and  may  naturalize  him  immediately.  Any 
alien  seaman,  after  he  has  declared  his  intention  to  be- 


NATURALIZATION  121 

come  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  may  petition  for 
naturalization  upon  production  of  his  certificate  of 
discharge  and  good  conduct  during  that  service,  without 
further  proof  of  residence. 

The  penalty  for  procuring  naturalization  papers  con- 
trary to  the  laws  of  the  government  of  the  United  States 
is  a  fine  of  not  more  than  five  thousand  dollars  or  im- 
prisonment of  not  more  than  five  years,  or  both,  and  the 
court  will  declare  such  papers  void.  Any  man  encour- 
aging or  assisting  an  alien,  who  is  not  entitled  to  natural- 
ization, to  apply  for  or  to  secure  naturalization,  or  who 
gives  false  testimony  in  the  case  of  any  applicant,  is 
liable  to  a  like  fine  or  imprisonment  or  both.  No  per- 
son, however,  may  be  tried  or  punished  unless  informa- 
tion is  filed  and  the  indictment  found,  within  the  five 
years  immediately  following  the  commission  of  such  crime. 

All  clerks  of  court,  having  jurisdiction  in  naturaliza- 
tion matters  and  exercising  the  same,  must  account  to 
the  Bureau  of  Naturalization  for  all  certificates  of  nat- 
uralization issued  to  them.  If  a  certificate  is  marred 
in  any  way  so  that  it  cannot  be  used,  it  cannot  be  destroyed 
but  must  be  returned  to  the  Bureau.  If  a  clerk  of  the 
court  cannot  account  for  certificates  issued  to  him,  he 
is  liable  to  a  fine  of  fifty  dollars  for  every  certificate  lost, 
which  may  be  collected  in  an  action  of  debt.  The  clerk 
of  court  must  send  to  the  Bureau  copies  of  each  certifi- 
cate of  declaration  and  of  all  petitions  for  second  papers, 
within  thirty  days  after  the  application  has  been  received. 

Any  person  who  has  dwelt  in  the  United  States  for  five 


122  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

continuous  years,  previous  to  January  1,  1914,  and  who, 
if  examined,  is  found  qualified  to  become  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States  and  has  exercised  the  rights  of  citizenship 
wrongfully  because  of  misinformation  not  intentionally 
practiced  by  him,  may  apply  for  regular  naturalization 
papers  without  filing  a  declaration  of  intention,  providing 
he  can  prove  to  the  satisfaction  of  a  court  having  jurisdic- 
tion in  naturalization  that  the  facts  are  as  stated  by  him. 

2.  Preparing  Candidates.  What  should  the  alien 
know  before  he  is  taken  in  as  a  member  of  the  family? 
We  have,  as  stated  above,  about  two  thousand  three 
hundred  local  courts  and  about  two  hundred  nineteen 
federal  courts  in  which  aliens  may  be  naturalized. 
The  judges  in  these  courts  determine  the  requirements 
of  candidates,  and  the  questions  they  ask  are  the  best 
criteria  of  what  the  foreign-born  ought  to  know  before 
he  may  be  admitted  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.  The 
judges  of  the  several  courts  do  not  ask  the  same  ques- 
tions ;  the  individuality  of  the  respective  judges  has  much 
to  do  with  what  the  alien  ought  to  know. 

Some  judges  have  very  high  standards,  others  sym- 
pathize so  much  with  the  foreign-born  that  they  vir- 
tually invite  the  men  into  the  family,  knowing  that 
their  knowledge  of  the  American  form  of  government  is 
most  meager.  In  many  cities  where  large  numbers  of 
aliens  are  naturalized,  booklets  have  been  published  by 
court  officials,  private  concerns,  philanthropic  societies, 
and  other  organizations,  based  largely  on  the  questions 
asked  by  the  judge  or  judges,  which  serve  as  guides  to 


NATURALIZATION  123 

those  knocking  at  the  door  of  citizenship.  More  ambi- 
tious outlines  of  courses  are  issued  in  booklet  form  by 
municipalities,  the  states,  and  the  federal  government  as 
guides  to  teachers  who  aid  aliens  to  prepare  for  citizenship. 

The  deputy  examiners  of  the  Naturalization  Bureau 
examine  the  petitioner  for  second  papers  when  he  makes 
his  application  and  give  him  advice  according  to  the 
knowledge  displayed.  The  deputies  in  some  instances 
do  the  bulk  of  the  examining  on  the  day  the  men  appear 
in  court,  and  the  judge  is  advised  as  to  the  knowledge 
displayed  by  each  candidate  as  he  appears  before  him. 
If  the  candidate  is  fairly  well  versed  in  the  form  of  Ameri- 
can government,  his  examination  by  the  judge  is  brief ; 
if  his  knowledge  is  meager,  the  judge  is  more  strict. 

The  teacher  of  a  group  of  aliens  preparing  for  Ameri- 
can citizenship  ought  to  have  a  very  clear  idea  of  what 
he  is  to  teach  the  class.  The  character  of  the  instruc- 
tion given  will  be  largely  determined  by  the  character  of 
the  men  to  be  taught.  The  teacher  who  takes  any  book 
on  civics  or  the  courses  suggested  by  city  officials  and 
government  agents  must  adapt  these  according  to  the 
character  of  the  men  preparing  for  citizenship.  Most 
of  the  candidates  have  little  aptitude  for  study,  for  they 
never  have  studied  in  their  lives ;  besides  this,  they  work 
hard  and  can  come  together  for  instruction  only  in  the 
evening,  after  a  hard  day's  work.  We  have  many  wage- 
earners  who  work  eight  hours  a  day ;  these  men  may 
come  to  class  without  serious  handicaps.  It  is  very 
different  with  men  working  twelve  hours  a  day. 


124  THE   PROBLEM    OF   AMERICANIZATION 

In  teaching  it  makes  a  vast  difference  whether  or  not 
men  have  had  any  previous  culture,  and  whether  or  not 
they  have  studied  matters  of  government  in  the  homeland 
before  they  came  to  America.  A  class  of  Scandinavians 
is  very  different  from  a  class  of  Ukrainians  or  Russians. 
The  one  is  literate  and  versed  in  democratic  institutions ; 
the  other  may  be  illiterate,  never  having  studied,  and 
having  little  or  no  political  knowledge  of  any  government. 
The  teacher  must  also  adapt  his  instruction  to  men  who 
know  the  English  language.  No  alien  unable  to  read 
simple  sentences  and  answer  questions  in  English  should 
be  in  a  class  for  naturalization.  He  should  be  put  in  a 
class  to  learn  English. 

Many  bi-lingual  books  are  published  as  guides  to  aliens 
preparing  for  naturalization.  Some  of  these  books  are 
printed  in  three  or  four  languages.  It  is  a  mistake  for 
the  alien  to  depend  on  these  aids.  The  man  who  uses 
a  bi-lingual  book  invariably  thinks  in  his  mother  tongue. 
He  may  commit  all  the  book  to  memory,  and,  in  private, 
if  given  the  necessary  time,  will  answer  the  questions 
asked  him  in  English.  When  he  appears  in  court,  how- 
ever, he  becomes  excited  and  forgets  all  his  English. 
The  best  way  is  for  a  small  group  of  aliens  to  meet  under 
the  leadership  of  a  competent  instructor  and  discuss  in 
English  the  form  of  American  government.  In  this 
way,  the  student  is  trained  to  understand  the  question 
in  English,  and  also  drilled  to  answer  in  the  same  tongue ; 
when  he  appears  in  the  court  room,  he  will  not  be  con- 
fused. 


NATURALIZATION  125 

The  prime  interest  of  the  alien  wishing  citizenship  is 
to  pass  the  naturalization  examination.  His  training 
must  be  intensive  in  the  ninety  days  between  the  peti- 
tion and  examination,  and  some  critics  say:  "The 
course  is  too  narrow ;  the  instruction  ought  to  be  so 
broad  that  every  duty  developing  upon  citizens  should 
be  included."  I  agree  with  this  ideal,  but  it  cannot  be 
realized  save  in  a  few  cases.  No  group  of  wage-earners 
are  so  migratory  as  the  foreign-born,  and  especially  is 
this  the  case  during  the  first  five  years  following  their 
entrance  into  the  country.  Their  first  job  is  generally 
a  hard  one  with  a  low  wage.  They  will  look  around  and 
find  another  —  continuously  moving,  changing  work 
again  and  again,  until  they  find  economic  conditions 
which  satisfy  them.  When  a  slump  comes,  the  foreigner 
is  the  first  to  be  discharged,  while  in  seasonal  occupa- 
tions, such  as  canning,  work  on  ore  docks,  in  the  beet 
fields,  on  railroad  construction  work,  etc.,  the  foreign- 
born  makes  up  the  labor  force.  Add  to  this  the  fact 
that  wage-earners  in  lumber  camps  and  construction 
work,  in  metal  and  coal  mines,  are  predominantly  the 
immigrant  group.  Another  fact  is  that  between  thirty 
and  thirty-five  per  cent  of  the  immigrants  return  to 
Europe.  The  majority  of  immigrants  coming  to  America 
have  not  made  up  their  minds  to  make  this  country 
their  home.  If  things  do  not  go  well,  they  will  return. 
The  first  year  or  two  are  years  of  economic  experiment. 
They  are  not  eager  to  attend  school  during  this  period, 
for  their  faces  are  set  toward  the  Old  World. 


126  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

The  vast  majority  of  men  in  civic  classes  are  those 
who  have  petitioned  for  their  second  papers  and  are 
anxious  to  pass  the  court  examination.  They  have 
ninety  days  in  which  to  prepare  and  all  they  can  do  is 
to  learn  the  names  of  a  few  men  and  the  outline  of  the 
American  form  of  government.  Some  of  the  best  men 
I  have  ever  known,  as  far  as  economic  worth,  parental 
virtues,  law-abiding  qualities,  and  moral  character  were 
concerned,  had  all  they  could  do  to  gain  in  three  months 
a  clear  idea  of  the  form  of  American  government.  The 
worth  of  a  citizen  is  not  to  be  estimated  in  the  amount  of 
book  knowledge  he  carries,  any  more  than  the  value  of 
metal  is  determined  by  its  luster.  We  do  not  in  the 
least  disparage  knowledge  from  books,  but  if  our  citi- 
zenry is  to  be  determined  by  that  standard,  then  the 
backbone  of  the  country  —  the  producing  masses  — 
will  not  rank  high.  If,  however,  we  take  the  qualities 
which  contribute  to  the  strength  of  society  and  the  life 
of  a  nation  —  family  virtues,  steady  workmanship,  ob- 
servance of  law,  community  spirit  —  then  the  wage- 
earners  possess  these  as  much  as  the  groups  more  highly 
favored  in  culture.  This  is  true  of  the  foreign-born 
wage-earners  from  whom  the  naturalized  aliens  come. 
The  intrinsic  qualities  they  possess,  making  for  good  citi- 
zenship, ought  to.  count  when  they  apply  for  citizenship 
in  America. 

The  way  "  Coming  Americans  "  are  taught  in  civic 
classes  varies  greatly.  Some  groups,  if  they  are  made  up 
of  Scandinavians,  Britishers,  Hollanders,  or  Germans,  meet 


NATURALIZATION  127 

once  a  week  for  twelve  weeks,  and  acquire  a  good  under- 
standing of  the  plan  of  American  government  in  city, 
county,  state,  and  nation.  A  group  of  Russians,  or 
Italians,  or  Syrians,  though  they  meet  three  times  a  week 
during  the  twelve  weeks,  will  not  acquire  so  clear  a 
knowledge  of  the  workings  of  American  democracy. 
One  of  the  most  successful  training  agencies  in  a  large 
city  is  a  course  of  twelve  lectures  given  large  groups. 
The  lectures,  at  the  rate  of  one  a  week,  take  just  three 
months.  Candidates  for  naturalization  may  come  into 
the  course  at  any  time  and  take  the  twelve  lectures. 
Each  lecture  is  illustrated  by  slides  bearing  upon  the  topic 
treated.  The  talk  is  given  by  a  man  who  knows  the 
workings  of  the  phase  of  government  dealt  with  —  the 
mayor  for  the  city,  a  judge  for  the  court,  a  commissioner 
for  the  county,  a  tax  collector  for  taxes,  a  councilman  for 
the  councils,  a  representative  for  the  state,  a  congress- 
man for  Congress,  etc.  The  lecture  generally  lasts  about 
half  an  hour.  The  students  at  the  close  of  each  lecture 
are  divided  into  groups  of  ten  or  fifteen  to  whom  teachers 
are  assigned.  The  teachers  lead  their  respective  classes 
into  rooms  where  the  topic  of  the  lecture  is  discussed  in 
question  and  answer  form.  If  the  pupils  understand, 
they  readily  answer  the  questions  the  teach'v  asks  them. 
If  he  is  satisfied  with  their  knowledge,  they  are  not  asked 
to  meet  again  that  week.  If,  however,  they  do  not 
answer  the  questions  intelligently,  and  show  a  lack  of 
understanding,  they  are  asked  to  meet  another  evening 
for  further  drill. 


128  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

This  plan  works  well.  If  fifty  or  more  persons  are 
taking  a  course,  some  will  graduate  and  leave  and  their 
places  will  be  taken  by  new  applicants.  If,  however,  the 
class  is  composed  of  ten  or  fifteen,  the  lecture  form  is  not 
used,  but  the  men  are  brought  together  for  twelve  sessions. 
The  instruction  given  is  in  the  nature  of  a  seminar  —  the 
men  are  encouraged  to  ask  questions  and  the  pupils  are 
drilled  in  correct  answers.  The  lecture  method  is  never 
used  in  class.  It  would  be  a  serious  mistake  to  try  it. 
The  one  great  purpose  of  the  class  is  to  see  that  the  men 
possess  the  knowledge  generally  required  in  the  examina- 
tion, and  also  that  they  are  able  to  express  themselves 
when  a  question  on  government  is  asked. 

No  book  in  civics  will  give  the  local  facts  pertaining 
to  government  in  every  city  and  state  in  the  union.  The 
form  of  city  government  varies,  the  governors  of  states 
change,  and  so  do  the  members  of  Congress  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  These  facts  the  candidates 
must  know,  and  the  best  way  to  impart  them  is  for  the 
teacher  to  prepare  in  sheet  form  the  facts  pertaining  to 
the  city  and  state  officials,  the  municipal  officers,  con- 
gressmen, president,  etc.  This  can  be  done  in  some 
fifty  or  seventy-five  questions,  printed  in  a  form  which 
the  pupil  can  easily  carry  in  his  pocket.  In  addition  to 
this  each  student  should  purchase  a  book  that  will  give 
him  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of  thex  form  of  Ameri- 
can government. 

In  addition  to  the  instruction  given  the  pupils  in  school, 
we  have  found  that  it  is  very  good  practice  to  bring  the 


NATURALIZATION  129 

clerk  of  the  court  or  the  Naturalization  Bureau's  deputy 
to  talk  to  the  class  some  evening.  It  gives  the  aliens  an 
acquaintance  with  an  official  who  represents  the  govern- 
ment ;  they  find  that  he  is  human  and  the  fear  they  have 
of  government  agents  is  partly  removed.  For  the  same 
reason,  it  is  good  practice  to  take  the  men  to  the  court- 
house and  to  the  room  in  which  they  will  be  examined, 
so  that  the  place  where  the  test  will  be  applied  will  not  be 
wholly  strange  to  them. 

A  group  of  men  having  petitioned  for  naturalization 
papers  need  very  definite  help ;  they  will  soon  graduate, 
however,  and  others  must  be  brought  into  their  place  if 
the  work  is  to  continue.  For  this  purpose,  we  find  that 
the  successful  candidates  are  the  best  advertisers.  Many 
foreign-born  men  in  a  foreign-speaking  community  know 
nothing  of  the  advantages  of  becoming  an  American 
citizen.  To  overcome  this  ignorance,  lectures  should 
be  prepared  to  bring  before  these  people  the  importance 
of  the  step  and  the  advantages  that  will  accrue  to  them 
and  to  their  children.  Of  these  lectures  we  will  speak 
in  the  following  chapter. 

American  products  from  factory  and  shop  are  con- 
stantly brought  to  the  attention  of  the  foreign-born. 
If  the  same  persistency  and  ingenuity  were  exercised 
in  bringing  before  these  people  the  greatest  of  all  Ameri- 
can products  —  American  democracy  —  the  work  of 
Americanization  would  progress  faster.  We  are  safe  in 
saying  that  tens  of  thousands  of  foreign-born  people 
have  come  to  America,  have  lived  here  for  a  decade, 


130  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

have  returned  to  their  native  land,  and  all  they  know  of 
the  country  is  the  filthy  quarter  in  which  they  lived, 
the  unsanitary  shop  in  which  they  worked,  and  the  vul- 
gar and  profane  drinking  den  in  which  they  found  socia- 
bility. If  we  have  a  form,  of  government  of  which  we  are 
proud,  let  us  tell  the  foreign-born  all  he  ought  to  know 
about  it ;  let  us  put  before  him.  that  type  of  democracy 
which,  more  than  any  other,  is  the  hope  of  humanity  ! 

REFERENCES 

AMERICAN  CITIZENSHIP:    Charles  A.  Beard  and  Mary  Ritter 

Beard. 

ETHICS  OF  CITIZENSHIP  :  John  McCunn. 
NATURALIZATION  LAWS:    Naturalization  Bureau,  Washington, 

D.  C. 

STRAIGHT  AMERICA  :  Frances  A.  Kellor,  Chapter  IV. 
THE  SPIRIT  OF  DEMOCRACY  :  Charles  F.  Dole. 
THE  OLD  WORLD  IN  THE  NEW  :  E.  A.  Ross,  Chapter  XI. 
AMERICANIZATION  :  Royal  Dixon,  pp.  113-125. 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS 

PICTURES  are  a  universal  language;  they  carry  a 
message  to  all  men,  no  matter  what  their  tongue  or  color. 
A  decade  or  so  ago  the  motion  picture  was  hardly 
known  as  a  means  of  amusement  and  education ;  to-day 
men  predict  that  it  is  to  be  the  university  of  the  future 
for  the  culture  of  the  masses. 

Taking  foreign-speaking  communities  as  a  whole,  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  the  quality  and  character  of  the  pictures 
exhibited  in  them  is  poor.  The  buildings  frequented  by 
foreigners  are  generally  poorly  ventilated,  dirty,  and  shabby 
in  appearance.  The  advertisement  at  the  entrance  of 
the  theater  is  more  highly  colored  and  more  blood-curdling 
than  in  places  frequented  by  the  native-born.  The  for- 
eigners need  to  learn  the  American  way  of  doing  things. 
In  motion  pictures,  as  in  all  else,  they  take  what  America 
gives.  They  have  no  way  of  expressing  their  wish,  they 
have  no  way  of  registering  their  protest.  They  have  faith 
in  America.  Their  children  shape  their  idea  of  what 
America  is  and  what  it  expects  of  them  from  the  moving 
pictures  exhibited  in  their  district.  Very  often  the  scenes 
shown  are  not  even  true  to  American  life.  They  create 

131 


132 

false  impressions  and  misunderstandings  and  are  a 
hindrance  to  Americanization.  A  group  of  public-spirited 
men  in  Washington  is  engaged  in  preparing  a  series  of 
reels  that  will  give  the  foreign-born  a  true  idea  of  Ameri- 
can life,  institutions,  customs,  and  habits ;  the  workings 
of  the  American  government,  and  the  protection  given 
human  liberty  under  the  Constitution.  This  is  work 
well  done  and  worthy  of  the  backing  of  every  American- 
ization worker  in  the  land. 

In  this  chapter  we  discuss  material  for  lectures  and  en- 
tertainments, how  to  carry  on  these  activities,  and  the 
equipment  necessary. 

1.  Material  Needed.  One  of  the  first  needs  is  to  correct 
the  foreign-born's  false  notions  of  what  America  is.  Many 
in  the  Old  World  believe  that  money  is  plentiful  in 
America,  that  a  great  deal  of  money  is  made  in  the  indus- 
tries, that  life  is  gay  and  full,  and  that  fortunes  are  easily 
accumulated.  There  is  some  truth  in  this.  The  "prince 
and  the  pauper"  do  change  places  here.  To  begin  the 
year  a  pauper  and  end  it  a  millionaire  is  not  a  dream. 
An  immigrant  who  began  life  at  three  dollars  a  week  and 
died  a  multi-millionaire  is  not  a  novelty.  The  error  is  that 
immigrants  believe  that  luck  and  not  hard  work  is  at  the 
root  of  these  achievements  in  America.  Whoever  rises  to 
affluence  nearly  always  does  so  by  hard  work.  When 
immigrants  enter  the  industries  and  earn  high  wages  they 
must  work  hard.  The  American  way  is  to  give  good  pay 
to  men  who  earn  it.  Dreams  of  riches  falling  full  and  free 
into  the  laps  of  men  in  America  are  all  foolish,  and  the 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  133 

sooner  the  immigrant  is  made  to  realize  this  the  better. 
As  the  country  develops  industrially  and  the  population 
increases,  there  are  more  of  us  to  run  after  the  plums ; 
much  fine  fruit  hangs  on  the  industrial  tree,  and  it  is 
picked  every  day  by  men  who  work  hard  and  long  and 
risk  much  in  running  after  it.  The  immigrant  who 
enters  the  race  must  take  his  chance.  The  plums  are 
for  him  as  well  as  for  the  native-born. 

Another  erroneous  idea  is  that  moneyed  men  in  America 
are  untrustworthy,  and  that  the  financial  institutions  of 
this  country  are  not  as  sound  as  those  in  the  homeland. 
Many  immigrants  believe  that  there  are  more  money 
sharks  to  the  square  foot  in  America  than  to  the  square 
mile  in  Europe.  This  accounts  for  the  practice  of  the 
foreign-born  of  hiding  money  in  bedticks,  trunks,  and 
such  places.  This  "suspicion  should  be  attacked  by  the 
presentation  of  facts  which  immigrants  cannot  learn  by 
themselves.  The  leaders  among  the  foreign-born  can  do 
much  to  help  in  this  matter.  The  foreign-born  should  be 
told  of  the  development  of  the  country,  its  resources,  its 
wealth,  the  extent  of  its  trade,  the  sweep  of  its  com- 
merce, the  laws  protecting  the  wage-earners,  the  deposi- 
tor, and  the  investor,  and  that  the  trade  and  commerce 
of  a  nation  cannot  be  built  save  on  confidence  in  the 
well-established  financial  institutions  of  the  country. 
Much  of  this  work  can  be  done  in  cooperation  with  the 
men  who  handle  the  foreign  departments  of  well-estab- 
lished banks. 

Many  foreign-born  men  have  erroneous  ideas  about 


134  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

liberty  and  freedom  in  America.  They  come  from  coun- 
tries where  censorship  and  espionage  are  common,  where 
custom  has  a  far  greater  sway  over  the  life  of  the  individ- 
ual than  in  America,  and  where  fixed  standards  are  far 
more  uniform  than  in  this  country.  What  wonder  is 
it  that  they  are  bewildered  and  confused  in  the  New 
World  where  standards  and  customs  of  many  races  of 
people  clash.  When  an  Italian  sees  girls  giggling  and 
flirting  with  men  on  the  street,  unaccompanied  by  an 
escort,  he  is  shocked ;  when  the  pious  Scot  sees  women 
lighting  their  cigarettes  after  luncheon  in  a  first-class 
hotel  and  smoking  like  veterans,  he  wonders  whether  or 
not  women  are  still  attractive ;  when  the  thrifty  German 
sees  a  dinner  of  seven  or  eight  courses  going  on  and  learns 
what  it  costs  per  plate,  he  wonders  how  the  guests  can 
stand  it  and  where  the  money  comes  from ;  extravagant 
dresses,  lavish  expenditure  on  amusements,  luxuries,  and 
non-essentials  in  the  New  World  would  be  shocking  waste 
in  European  communities ;  bounteous  eating  which  tests 
one's  stomach  as  well  as  one's  morals,  a  shameful 'number 
of  divorces,  and  variation  in  religious  worship  among  those 
who  belong  to  the  same  church  and  profess  the  same  creed, 
—  these  things  shock  the  foreigner  and  he  asks :  "  Are 
all  standards  to  be  thrown  overboard  in  America?  "  All 
this  tends  to  break  down  morals  and  confuse  liberty  with 
license.  The  foreigner  must  learn  that  a  people  capable 
of  self-government  is  not  under  tutelage,  and  that  the 
freedom  given  to  all  men  is  the  best  safeguard  against 
radicalism  and  terrorism. 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  135 

Many  foreign-born  persons  believe  that  they  are  not  given 
the  same  chances  as  the  native-born.  Some  believe  that 
a  foreign  name  is  a  hindrance  to  success,  that  the  race  to 
which  one  belongs  counts  in  the  struggle  for  subsistence. 
I  have  not  found  it  so,  and  I  think  that  the  illustrious 
names  of  foreign-born  men  who  have  succeeded  in  America 
contradict  this  belief.  America  is  the  land  where  love 
of  fair  play  is  dominant.  The  man  who  has  an  idea  to 
sell,  who  has  genius  to  invent,  who  can  introduce  any- 
thing of  practical  worth  in  the  nation,  finds  immediate 
recognition  and  a  commensurate  reward.  The  best  way 
to  correct  this  error  is  to  call  attention  to  the  thousands 
of  foreign-born  men  in  positions  of  responsibility  in  com- 
munity, state,  and  nation,  who  are  honored  and  loved 
because  of  their  worth  to  society,  and  whose  success  is 
due  to  the  service  which  they  render  to  society.  In 
America,  talent  and  capacity  find  their  level  more  directly 
than  in  any  other  country,  and  Americans  are  willing  to 
pay  for  service  rendered,  no  matter  where  a  man  may 
have  been  born. 

But  not  only  do  the  foreign-born  need  to  divest  them- 
selves of  erroneous  ideas,  they  must  also  be  informed 
for  what  America  stands.  Every  foreigner  should  know 
something  about  American  history.  This  does  not  mean 
that  he  should  take  a  course  in  American  history,  but  it 
does  mean  that  the  epoch-making  events  which  shaped 
the  destiny  of  this  continent  and  influenced  the  historic 
currents  of  the  world  should  be  known  to  him.  As  com- 
pared with  European  nations,  the  United  States  is  a  young 


136  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

nation,  but  the  progress  of  its  democracy  has  been  more 
influenced  by  events  which  have  transpired  in  America  in 
the  last  two  centuries  than  by  those  of  any  country  in  the 
Old  World.  American  democracy  has  changed  the  ideas 
of  a  great  many  other  countries.  The  American  Revo- 
lution was  the  first  successful  attempt  made  in  the  history 
of  the  world  to  overthrow  kings  and  to  establish  a  real 
democracy,  unhindered  by  heritages  of  past  ages  or  the 
stratification  of  societies.  The  working  out  of  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  self-imposed  limitations  proved  the 
capacity  of  the  colonists  to  overthrow  one  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  order  to  assume  another. 

The  wars  of  the  United  States,  as  before  stated,  have  in 
most  cases  been  fought  in  defense  of  the  weak  and  for  the 
liberation  of  the  oppressed.  This  record  of  conflicts  during 
the  past  century  stands  in  striking  contrast  with  that  of 
some  European  nations.  It  takes  a  new  turn  in  the  story 
of  human  conflict,  and  we  believe  the  turn  is  in  the  right 
direction  —  in  the  way  of  righteousness  and  good  will. 
The  story  of  American  diplomacy  is  one  of  straightforward 
dealing  and  truth  telling,  and  not  of  prevarication,  word 
fencing,  and  truth  concealing.  It  has  been  used  to  pro- 
tect the  weak  and  stay  the  hand  of  tyranny,  to  deliver 
captives  and  open  prison  cells,  to  defend  the  oppressed 
and  bring  mercy  and  justice  into  the  councils  of  nations. 
These  facts  of  American  history  reflect  the  spirit  of  the 
United  States,  and  should  be  imprinted  on  the  minds  of 
the  foreign-born. 

Another  service  the  lecture  can  render  the  foreign-born 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  137 

is  to  give  him  an  intelligent  idea  of  the  geography  of 
America.  Few  foreigners  have  a  correct  idea  of  the  area 
of  the  United  States,  its  varied  climatic  conditions,  its 
agricultural  products  and  the  untouched  treasures  in 
mountain  and  plain.  Men  living  in  congested  areas  — 
in  Massachusetts  or  Rhode  Island,  in  Connecticut  or 
New  Jersey,  in  New  York  or  Pennsylvania  —  have  no 
idea  of  the  extent  of  country  to  the  west  and  south  of 
them.  Their  idea  of  America  is  what  they  see  in  the 
paved  streets  and  crowded  houses  in  industrial  centers. 
A  small  .percentage  of  foreigners  has  taken  up  abandoned 
farms,  the  fields  have  flourished  and  abundant  crops  are 
annually  harvested.  Let  their  brethren  in  urban  centers 
learn  something  about  the  untilled  acreage  of  the  United 
States,  about  the  density  of  population,  about  the  appre- 
ciation of  land,  and  what  prospects  await  them  in 
rural  life.  The  future  of  America  depends  as  much 
upon  its  agricultural  development  as  upon  its  industries. 
The  lecture  is  the  best  way  to  present  American  stand- 
ards to  foreign-born.  The  foreign-born  have  many  virtues 
-  they  are  thrifty  and  saving ;  they  cling  to  the  simple 
life ;  the  foreign-born  wife  is  the  breadmaker  as  well  as  its 
distributer.  When  we  consider,  however,  the  character 
of  the  home  and  its  furnishings,  the  care  of  children, 
sleeping  quarters,  the  comforts  and  conveniences  the 
family  ought  to  enjoy,  —  the  foreign-born  are  far  removed 
from  American  standards.  The  chief  hindrance  to  better 
things  is  the  penury  of  the  foreigner. 

Many  foreign-speaking  families  live  in  America  as  if 


138  THE   PROBLEM    OF    AMERICANIZATION 

it  were  merely  their  boarding  place.  They  do  not  take 
root  in  the  land,  they  simply  buy  bare  necessities  and  no 
comforts,  their  faces  are  turned  continually  toward  the 
homeland.  Let  us  give  these  people  an  insight  into  the 
home  of  the  American  workingmen,  with  its  comforts 
and  conveniences,  its  furnishings  and  draperies,  and  its 
pride  in  the  maintenance  of  standards  which  mean  family 
respect,  decency,  and  solidarity.  It  means  a  wiser  ex- 
penditure of  money  for  the  good  of  the  family  and  civili- 
zation. The  most  damaging  poverty  of  the  foreigner's 
home  is  that  of  ideals  and  culture  which  feed  the  heart 
and  mind  of  the  growing  family. 

The  lecture  should  also  be  used  to  teach  the  foreign-born 
what  are  the  regulations  regarding  fire,  regarding  garbage, 
regarding  contagious  diseases,  what  the  police  regulations 
are ;  he  should  be  informed  concerning  compulsory  attend- 
ance laws,  the  procuring  of  working  papers,  license  laws, 
probation  regulations,  laws  concerning  taxes,  loans,  and 
all  such  matters.  These  are  the  things  which  touch  the 
daily  life  of  the  foreign-born  living  in  congested  commu- 
nities, and  they  will  take  to  picture  instruction  better  than 
to  the  club  of  the  policeman  or  the  fine  of  the  police  court. 

It  would,  however,  be  a  serious  mistake  to  believe  that 
the  foreign-born  are  to  be  only  recipients  of  American 
ideas  and  standards;  they  should  receive,  but  they  also 
have  something  to  give.  In  a  former  chapter  we  spoke 
of  the  background  of  immigrant  races  coming  to  North 
America.  Each  has  its  culture,  —  its  history,  its  heroes, 
its  songs,  its  poetry,  —  to  give  to  America,  and  it  will 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  139 

please  them  if  we  ask  them  to  sing  us  their  songs  and  tell 
us  of  their  heroes.  Civilization  is  the  composite  produc- 
tion of  countless  generations,  and  America  has  the  oppor- 
tunity to  rise  to  the  highest  type  of  civilization  only  if 
the  best  things  in  ourselves  and  in  the  many  peoples 
coming  to  our  shores  are  conserved. 

The  Liberty  Loan  campaigns  rendered  us  one  especially 
good  service  —  they  introduced  to  the  people  of  our  large 
cities  their  foreign-born  neighbors  in  native  costume.  In 
many  communities  a  night  was  given  to  each  nationality, 
when  representatives  appeared  in  native  costume,  singing 
their  native  songs  and  dancing  their  folk  dances,  to  the 
amusement  and  edification  of  all  who  witnessed  the  per- 
formance. This,  I  believe,  was  of  greater  value  to  the 
nation  than  the  sum  invested  by  the  foreign-born  in  bonds. 
If  all  the  costumes  in  cities  like  Chicago  or  Philadelphia, 
Pittsburgh  or  Buffalo  were  arranged  by  an  artist  and 
made  to  pass  in  review  before  the  American  people,  it 
would  be  one  of  the  best  lessons  ever  given  in  human 
character.  The  dresses  of  the  respective  peoples  very 
often  reflect  their  mental  calibre  and  artistic  taste. 

The  foreigners  also  know  the  secrets  of  the  culinary 
art.  Simon  Lubin  has  said  that  the  acme  of  American 
culinary  achievement  is  "  ham  and  eggs,"  and  the  presence 
of  foreign-born  cooks  in  rich  American  homes  and  in  first- 
class  hotels  implies  that  there  is  truth  in  Lubin's  remark. 
A  descendant  of  one  of  the  families  who  came  over  on  the 
Mayflower  told  me  recently  that  there  are  only  three 
things  indigenous  to  America  —  potatoes,  strawberries, 


140  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

and  tobacco.  A  great  many  of,  the  really  good  foods 
have  come  by  importation,  and  if  the  peoples  of  a  large 
American  city  were  to  arrange  an  exhibit  of  tHe  kinds 
of  food  consumed  by  the  races  dwelling  in  it,  and  how  to 
prepare  them  for  use,  our  diet  would  be  richer  and  better. 

When  we  turn  from  externalities  to  the  riches  of  the 
mind,  —  song  and  poetry,  music  and  drama,  philosophy 
and  ethics,  —  we  enter  a  field  that  has  in  it  inestimable 
riches.  Dvorak,  when  he  lived  in  America,  found  music 
worth  while  in  negro  melodies.  Suppose  a  musician  of 
equal  capacity  were  to  study  the  songs  which  the  immi- 
grants of  many  nationalities  bring  to  America,  would  he 
not  make  a  contribution  to  the  American  musical  world 
that  would  be  worth  having  ?  The  songs  that  have  stood 
the  test  of  time  are  the  ones  which  stir  the  soul.  The  nurs- 
eries of  the  world  are  the  best  conservatories,  for  heart 
songs  are  there,  woven  into  the  very  mental  fiber  of  the 
races.  This  is  the  case  not  only  with  Anglo-Saxon  songs, 
but  with  those  of  every  land.  Every  people  coming  to 
America  has  its  immortal  songs,  which  are  sung  only  in 
the  foreign-speaking  colony.  Bring  them  out  to  the  light 
and  the  storehouse  of  American  music  will  be  richer  and 
sweeter. 

The  same  is  true  of  poetry.  We  have,  through  trans- 
lators, heard  the  music  of  the  bards  of  Russia,  of  Bohemia, 
of  Poland,  of  Italy,  which  reveals  the  yearnings  of  the 
souls  of  men  as  deep  and  as  strong  as  we  find  in  our 
Anglo-Saxon  poems.  The  human  heart  in  its  sorrow  and 
joy  is  pretty  much  the  same,  no  matter  in  what  clime  or 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  141 

tongue  it  finds  expression.  Every  nation  has  its  poetry 
and  poets  which  it  cherishes.  The  Ruthenians  love  their 
Shevchanko  as  the  Scots  love  their  Bobbie  Burns  ;  Push- 
kin among  the  Russians  is  as  well  known  as  Tennyson 
among  the  English ;  Miskievitch  among  the  Poles  is  as 
well  known  as  Longfellow  among  Americans ;  Dante 
among  the  Italians  is  as  popular  as  Goethe  among  the 
Germans ;  while  the  Greeks  read  more  of  Homer  than  do 
Englishmen  of  Chaucer.  If  the  ideals  of  the  seers  of  these 
several  peoples  were  interpreted  to  America,  we  should 
all  be  better  and  nobler. 

The  literature  of  the  several  peoples  has  much  that  is 
worth  while.  Democracy  in  America  is  the  realization 
of  European  dreams.  The  beginning  of  democratic  gov- 
ernment has  its  roots  in  Europe.  Athens,  Rome,  the  free 
cities  of  Italy  and  of  France,  were  efforts  at  democratic 
expression.  The  merciless  Turks  practiced  despotism 
in  the  Balkans  for  five  hundred  years,  but  the  democratic 
spirit  of  the  Slavs  was  kept  alive  in  the  fastnesses  of  the 
mountains,  and  group  after  group  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury fought  its  way  to  self-determination.  The  story  of 
United  Italy  is  full  of  heroic  sentiment  and  pristine  valor. 
The  chivalry  of  the  House  of  Savoy,  the  statesmanship  of 
Cavour,  the  eloquence  of  Mazzini,  and  the  heroism  of 
Garibaldi,  will  stir  the  American  heart  as  well  as  that  of 
the  Italian.  What  a  story  can  the  Poles  tell  of  their 
struggle  for  constitutional  government,  and  of  suffering 
when  the  supreme  crime  of  the  eighteenth  century  was 
committed.  For  more  than  a  hundred  years  has  this  brave 


142  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

\ 
people  pleaded  with  humanity  for  a  restoration  of  their 

land,  and  at  last  their  prayer  is  answered  by  the  aid  of 
America.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the  Lithuanians,  the 
Letts,  the  Esthonians,  the  Finns,  the  Slovaks,  Czechs, 
Syrians,  Armenians,  —  each  counting  men  and  women 
who  bled  and  died  for  freedom.  They  were  oppressed  by 
the  strong  arm  of  militarism,  the  will  of  kings  made  them 
serfs,  submission  to  authority  was  the  order  of  the  day  for 
centuries,  and  the  only  way  of  escape  for  brave  souls  was 
emigration.  Let  America  listen  to  the  story  of  these 
peoples  against  tyranny,  and  it  will  make  us  all  more 
appreciative  of  the  liberty  and  freedom  guaranteed  to  all 
under  the  Constitution. 

This  can  be  done  by  entertainments,  and  the  best  in- 
terpreters of  the  struggles  and  sufferings  of  each  people 
for  freedom  are  the  men  and  women  of  the  several  races 
now  a  part  of  our  population.  The  Americanization 
worker  has  a  rich  field  to  draw  upon  in  the  background  of 
the  foreign-born,  and  no  better  use  can  be  made  of  the 
material  than  to  suggest  that  the  sons  of  brave  men  give 
to  American  democracy  the  loyalty  and  sacrifice  their 
fathers  gave  to  the  cause  of  freedom  in  the  Old  World. 

2.  Method  of  Presentation.  Lectures  and  entertain- 
ments like  that  indicated  in  the  previous  pages  should 
be  promoted.  The  talks  should  be  illustrated  as  far  as 
possible,  and  the  more  direct  and  simple  the  subject 
matter  the  better.  The  best  way  to  address  the  for- 
eign-born is  to  secure  a  set  of  slides  to  illustrate  the  talk, 
then  explain  the  pictures  in  a  conversational  way  in  the 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  143 

simplest  English  possible.  If  this  is  done  slowly  and  clearly 
the  foreign-speaking  man  who  knows  a  little  English  will 
be  able  to  understand. 

When  motion  pictures  are  used,  an  effort  should  be  made 
to  leave  a  deep  and  clear  impression  on  the  mind  of  the 
spectators.  For  this  purpose,  our  subject  should  be  care- 
fully chosen  and  everything  in  the  meeting  contribute  to 
making  a  deep  impression  on  the  foreign-born.  When 
reels  or  slides  are  exhibited  to  people  who  know  little  or  no 
English,  the  worker  should  secure  an  interpreter  who  will 
clearly  and  deliberately  translate  the  explanatory  words. 
Care  should  be  taken  to  secure  a  capable  man  who  will, 
before  appearing  in  the  hall,  go  over  the  sentences  to  be 
translated,  in  order  that  he  may  do  his  part  well. 

Lectures  may  be  given  both  in  and  out  of  doors.  This 
depends  upon  the  season  of  the  year.  Whenever  weather 
permits  and  an  audience  may  be  secured,  it  is  better  to 
give  the  lecture  out  of  doors. 

Motion  picture  lectures  in  halls  must  comply  with  state 
laws.  The  Society  of  Motion  Picture  Engineers  has 
adopted  the  safety  standard  and  four  distributing  com- 
panies are  now  making  films  of  this  standard.  Most 
states  demand  a  fireproof  booth  for  the  machine.  A 
worker  using  the  safety-standard  size  has  not  a  very  wide 
range  of  subjects  to  draw  upon.  If  he  uses  the  theater- 
standard  size,  he  must  get  an  asbestos  booth ;  otherwise, 
he  must  limit  his  work  to  stereopticon  slides.  Good  work 
can  be  done  with  slides,  especially  when  the  lecturer  deals 
with  agricultural  scenes  in  the  Old  and  the  New  World, 


144  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

exhibits  of  industrial  development,  biographical  sketches, 
types  of  housing  and  improvement,  gardening  and  farm- 
ing, and  many  other  subjects,  all  of  which  would  be  of 
great  interest. 

The  place  where  the  lecture  or  entertainment  is  given 
has  much  to  do  with  its  success.  If  the  right  approach 
is  made  to  the  leaders,  the  Americanization  director  will 
be  able  to  secure  the  use  of  the  foreigners'  hall  or  their 
rented  quarters  to  introduce  his  program.  This  was  the 
way  the  work  was  started  among  the  Lithuanians  of 
Newark.  The  director  secured  the  cooperation  of  the 
leaders  and  had  the  use  of  the  Lithuanian  hall  for  a 
public  meeting.  On  the  evening  appointed,  he  took  his 
lantern  and  fifty  slides  and  gave  an  illustrated  lecture. 
Some  of  the  slides  were  scenes  of  country  life  in  Lithuania ; 
others  showed  types  of  work  done  in  America;  a  few 
showed  the  naturalized  citizen  in  full  possession  of  his 
sovereign  rights.  The  hall  was  well  filled.  Eight  hun- 
dred people  were  assembled,  —  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren. At  the  close  of  the  lecture,  the  women  and  children 
went  home ;  the  men  stayed  to  discuss  the  question  of 
being  Americanized.  The  president  of  the  club  addressed 
the  members,  stated  what  the  director  was  willing  to  do, 
and  asked  them  what  was  their  wish.  They  voted  to 
organize  for  Americanization  work.  A  committee  was 
appointed  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  with 
the  director.  That  winter  more  than  a  hundred  men 
regularly  attended  English  classes,  and  sixty  of  them 
secured  either  their  first  or  second  papers. 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  145 

It  is  always  advisable  for  the  Americanization  director 
to  use  the  organization  already  in  existence  among  the 
foreign-speaking.  If  it  has  no  hall  which  answers  his 
purpose,  he  may  secure  one  in  the  public  school  most 
convenient  to  the  foreigners.  Philanthropic  agencies, 
such  as  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  K  of  C.,  Y.  M.  H.  A., 
and  all  like  societies,  have  halls  furnished  with  motion 
picture  equipment,  which  may  be  used  for  Americaniza- 
tion work.  As  the  work  becomes  well  established,  the 
men  and  women  will  come  for  a  cosmopolitan  meeting  in 
a  central  building  where  all  nations  can  meet  on  a  com- 
mon footing  and  each  contribute  its  part  to  the  evening's 
entertainment.  A  special  effort  should  be  made  to  do 
this  once  or  twice  a  year. 

Managers  of  motion  picture  theaters  are  kindly  disposed 
to  Americanization  work  and  will  give  place  to  a  good 
Americanization  film  if  the  promoter  approaches  them. 

The  outdoor  lectures  in  the  summer  are  given  on  the 
streets,  in  the  parks,  in  vacant  lots,  and  sometimes  on 
the  roofs  of  buildings.  When  a  lecture  is  planned  in  the 
street,  the  permission  must  be  secured  of  the  mayor  of 
the  city,  who  details  a  policeman  or  two  to  handle  the 
boys  and  close  the  street  to  traffic.  When  an  empty  lot 
is  used,  the  consent  of  the  owner  is  necessary.  When 
parks  are  used,  the  promoter  cooperates  with  the  man  or 
woman  in  charge  of  park  activities.  In  some  instances  a 
lantern  has  been  operated  from  the  window  of  a  house  and 
a  screen  hung  on  the  upper  story  of  the  house  across  the 
street.  Lectures  have  been  given  in  the  summer  with 


146  THE  PROBLEM  OP  AMERICANIZATION 

good  effect  on  the  roof  of  a  building.  Of  course,  some 
attraction  must  go  with  the  motion  picture  when  exhibited 
in  the  open  air,  such  as  a  cornetist  or  soloist  or  chimes. 
One  of  the  most  successful  programs  of  outdoor  lectures 
has  been  projected  by  the  Chicago  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  which, 
during  the  summer  of  1919,  reached  no  fewer  than  half 
a  million  foreign-speaking  people.  In  the  city  of  New 
York,  the  block  party  plan  is  used  for  this  purpose.  In 
St.  Louis  the  parks  have  been  very  successfully  used  for 
the  promotion  of  Americanization  and  the  foreign-born 
have  responded  to  the  message  in  an  astonishing  manner. 
In  every  audience  of  foreign-born  men  more  than  one 
people  is  represented,  and  the  question  of  interpreters 
comes  up.  If  four  or  five  races  are  present,  should  we 
use  four  or  five  interpreters?  My  experience  is  against 
this.  In  one  instance  three  groups  —  Polish,  Italian,  and 
Russniaks  —  were  each  assigned  a  section  of  the  hall  and 
three  interpreters  secured.  During  the  lecture  the  three 
men  interpreted  simultaneously;  the  experiment  was  a 
decided  failure.  I  have  tried  one  interpreter  with  varied 
success.  A  friend  of  mine  used  two  lanterns  —  one  inter- 
preting in  foreign  tongues,  and  the  other  showing  the 
pictures;  this  was  not  a  success,  for  to  look  on  two 
screens  was  annoying  and  unsatisfactory.  Unless  I  have 
a  good  interpreter,  I  prefer  to  give  the  lecture  in  simple 
English,  talking  slowly  and  clearly,  and  it  is  astonishing 
how  much  the  foreigners  will  understand.  The  children 
are  generally  present  in  these  exhibitions,  and  they  are 
good  interpreters  of  the  story  given  to  their  elders. 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  147 

The  Americanization  worker  should  always  enlist  the 
cooperation  of  the  foreign-born.  Their  leaders  should  be 
on  his  committee.  If  he  plans  a  Polish  night,  let  a  Polish 
committee  take  charge  of  the  program.  The  same  should 
be  done  with  every  other  nationality,  and  when  a  cosmo- 
politan meeting  is  planned,  let  all  the  racial  committees 
come  together  and  plan  the  event  and  carry  it  out.  We 
should  never  forget  the  motto,  "  Work  with  the  foreign- 
born  and  not  for  them." 

It  is  also  silly  to  insist  that  all  be  done  in  the  English 
language.  War-time  hysteria  has  past,  and  the  absurd 
legislation  passed  in  Iowa  that  no  one  should  speak  in  the 
presence  of  four  other  persons  in  any  language  save  English 
would  better  be  forgotten.  The  foreigners  will  always  use 
their  mother  tongue  in  personal  intercourse,  in  culture,  in 
worship,  and  in  public  gatherings.  Let  them  use  their  own 
language  in  song  and  drama,  but  be  sure  that  the  leaders 
of  these  meetings  are  loyal  Americans.  Under  trusted 
leadership  there  is  no  danger  of  these  gatherings  fall- 
ing into  the  hands  of  radicals;  our  one  great  objective 
should  be  to  open  up  the  spiritual  and  cultural  heritage  of 
the  respective  races,  increase  their  interest  in  poetry, 
music,  art,  and  literature,  and  link  these  interests  to  the 
best  that  is  in  American  democracy.  This  will  be  the 
safest  cure  for  radicalism,  for  in  this  is  the  expulsive 
power  of  character-forming  activities. 

The  Americanization  worker  should  use  to  the  full  the 
national  holidays  of  foreign-born  peoples.  He  should 
keep  on  his  desk  a  list  of  the  holidays  of  the  races  among 


148  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION      , 

whom  he  works,  and  plan  entertainments  for  these  times. 
He  should  also  use  our  own  national  holidays  on  which  to 
bring  all  nations  together  to  celebrate  the  occasion.  The 
true  spirit  of  American  democracy  can  only  be  expressed 
when  all  races  come  together,  when  all  racial  antagonisms, 
all  race  prejudices,  are  laid  aside,  and  all  nationalities  join 
in  one  enthusiastic  celebration  of  an  American  event  which 
is  symbolic  of  the  privilege  and  blessings  they  all  are  in- 
vited to  enjoy.  The  dominant  note  in  such  gatherings 
should  be  the  cooperation  of  all  in  making  a  better  America. 
A  divided  people  will  never  realize  the  acme  of  twentieth- 
century  civilization.  A  city  divided  against  itself  — 
a  little  Poland  here,  a  little  Italy  there,  a  little  Greece 
in  the  other  corner  —  will  ever  be  handicapped  by  two 
codes  of  ethics  and  varying  standards  in  family  and  civic 
life.  It  is  the  case  of  the  Jew  and  the  Samaritan  over 
again,  and  progress  is  hindered.  Use  national  holidays  to 
bring  to  all  these  peoples  the  consciousness  of  community 
interests.  Make  them  feel  that  their  one  aim  should  be 
to  make  the  city  a  good  place  in  which  to  raise  boys  and 
girls,  and  make  them  look  upon  America  as  their  home 
rather  than  as  a  place  in  which  to  sojourn  temporarily. 

3.  Expense  Involved.  The  Americanization  worker 
should  have  a  motion  picture  machine  and  a  lantern. 
Some  machines  have  attachments  for  both-  slides  and 
reels,  but  the  worker  will  save  time  and  energy  if  he  has 
two  equipments. 

The  best  motion  picture  machine  is  the  standard  theater 
size.  Most  Americanization  promoters  project  their  work 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  149 

in  foreign-speaking  communities,  and  for  this  work,  if  one 
uses  the  inflammable  film,  one  needs  a  portable  ma- 
chine and  an  asbestos  booth.  This  apparatus  weighs  any- 
where from  one  hundred  fifty  to  three  hundred  pounds 
—  a  cumbersome  load  to  transport  from  place  to  place. 
Many  men  are  using  the  safety-standard  type  machine, 
weighing  from  twenty  to  thirty  pounds.  This  machine, 
with  four  films  of  a  thousand  feet  each,  will  weigh  less  than 
sixty  pounds  and  may  be  carried  from  place  to  place,  and 
the  Board  of  Fire  Underwriters  approves  its  use  in  any 
hall  without  a  booth.  The  library  for  the  safety-standard 
machine  is  not  extensive,  but  four  companies  are  busy 
daily  adding  to  the  supply.  A  good  portable  machine 
costs  between  two  and  three  hundred  dollars. 

The  Americanism  Committee  of  the  Motion  Picture  In- 
dustry, at  the  head  of  which  is  ex-Secretary  of  the  Interior, 
Franklin  K.  Lane,  is  putting  out  films  on  Americaniza- 
tion, which  are  distributed  through  the  motion  picture 
theaters,  the  public  schools,  and  philanthropic  organiza- 
tions. The  Committee  is  producing  films  treating  of 
epochs  in  American  history,  illustrating  American  cus- 
toms, the  lives  of  great  Americans,  the  plan  of  American 
government,  the  rights  of  men  under  the  Constitution. 
This  effort  will  supply  a  great  need .  Before  this  Committee 
was  organized,  the  number  of  films  adapted  to  the  work  of 
Americanization  was  small,  some  produced  by  private 
concerns  and  designed  for  other  purposes  than  American- 
ization. Some  of  the  films  of  the  educational  department 
of  film-producing  concerns  served  this  purpose  well. 


150  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

The  Americanization  worker  should  consult  the  local 
theater  man  about  films ;  this  man  knows  what  is  in  the 
market  and  can  give  him  useful  information.  He  should 
consult  the  catalogues  of  film  exchanges  in  the  district 
in  which  he  works.  Besides  these,  he  should  keep  in 
touch  with  industries,  universities,  volunteer  societies,  and 
all  organizations  which  handle  films  for  distribution.  In 
this  way  much  material  may  be  secured  at  little  cost.  He 
should,  however,  guard  against  making  a  show  "  cheap  " 
by  running  poor  reels.  Money  wisely  spent  on  commer- 
cial films  for  the  promotion  of  Americanization  pays. 

The  best  light  for  the  lamp  is  electricity.  If  the  current 
is  in  the  hall,  all  the  operator  needs  is  to  connect  with  the 
current.  If  the  current  is  wanting,  he  must  operate  on 
storage  batteries.  Before  operating  in  a  hall,  he  should 
always  consult  the  local  authorities  as  to  municipal  or- 
dinances concerning  the  use  of  motion  picture  machines ; 
he  should  also  find  out  what  the  electric  current  in  the 
hall  is,  and  in  every  case  follow  the  direction  of  the  en- 
gineer of  the  local  electric  company. 

The  success  of  a  lecture  depends  largely  on  the  skill  of 
the  operator.  State  laws  generally  demand  licensed  oper- 
ators. If  the  lecture  is  given  in  the  open,  a  man  of  or- 
dinary mechanical  skill  can  run  the  machine.  If  the 
operator  is  paid  and  reels  hired,  the  average  cost  per 
night  of  a  good  show  will  amount  to  twenty-five  dollars. 
This  does  not  include  hall  rent. 

All  foreigners  do  not  live  in  populous  cities ;  there  are, 
hundreds  of  small  industrial  towns  and  mining  centers 


LECTURES  AND  ENTERTAINMENTS  151 

where  they  settle.  The  message  of  Americanization  should 
be  brought  to  these,  and  the  stereopticon  lantern  offers 
decided  advantages  over  the  motion  picture  machine. 
A  good  lantern  may  be  had  for  less  than  fifty  dollars, 
and  a  rented  set  of  from  fifty  to  eighty  slides  will  cost 
between  five  and  six  dollars.  The  Americanization  worker 
will  be  greatly  welcomed  in  these  small  towns  where  little 
or  no  information  is  given  on  American  democracy  save 
that  brought  in  by  the  teacher  in  the  little  red  school- 
house. 

In  the  projection  of  entertainments,  the  only  expense 
involved  is  the  hall  rent.  Costumes,  music,  scenery, 
decoration,  a  band,  and  other  appliances  are  taken  care  of 
by  the  committee  of  foreign-born  men.  In  one  of  these 
entertainments  the  expense  amounted  to  three  hundred 
dollars,  which  was  taken  care  of  by  the  committee. 
When  the  foreign-born  is  given  a  chance  to  display  his 
culture,  he  gives  freely  of  his  time  and  money,  and  he  is 
always  anxious  to  bind  his  effort  to  the  spirit  of  America. 

REFERENCES 

RACE  FACTORS  IN  DEMOCRACY:  Philip  A.  Means,  Chapter 
VII. 

ITALY  :  W.  Deecke,  Chapter  XV. 

THE  RUSSIAN  ADVANCE  :  Albert  B.  Beveridge,  Chapter  XXV. 

WHAT  HAVE  THE  GREEKS  DONE  FOR  MODERN  CIVILIZATION? 
John  P.  Mahaffy. 

PLAY  IN  EDUCATION  :  Joseph  Lee. 

COMMUNITY  DRAMA  AND  PAGEANTRY  :  Beegle  and  Craw- 
ford. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
RECREATION  ACTIVITIES 

"  WHAT  recreational  work  can  we  do  for  the  foreign- 
born?  "  is  a  question  many  ask.  It  depends  wholly  on 
the  group  for  which  we  work.  The  young  men  who  come 
from  the  British  Isles,  or  from  Canada,  may  be  organized 
into  teams  to  play  football  or  cricket ;  young  men  of 
Polish  birth  will  organize  a  Falcon  Society,  hire  a  hall, 
and  carry  on  physical  exercise;  a  group  of  Italians  will 
level  a  piece  of  ground,  get  a  few  wooden  balls  and  play 
boccie.  Every  nationality  coming  to  the  United  States 
has -its  games,  and  the  Americanization  worker  will  do 
well  to  study  these  and  see  the  best  ways  in  which  he 
may  induce  the  men  to  play.  It  is  a  fact,  however,  that 
foreign-born  adults  in  America  do  not  play  much.  I 
have  seen  Italians  in  their  forties  and  fifties  playing  boccie  ; 
Slavs  of  the  same  age  playing  at  ball ;  Magyars  in  middle 
life  interested  in  the  national  game,  timboli ;  but  these 
are  exceptions ;  whenever  this  is  done,  the  community 
is  small  and  made  up  largely  of  these  peoples,  so  that 
the  national  spirit  has  free  play. 

Among  many  of  the  Slavic  groups  —  Poles,  Czechs, 
Slovaks  —  the  Falcon  Society  is  common.  The  Germans 

152 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  153 

have  their  Turnverein.  Scandinavians  have  physical 
culture  societies.  The  Russians  have  some  societies 
for  physical  exercise  modeled  after  the  Falcon  Societies. 
The  Finns  have  many  halls  in  which  social  gatherings 
and  some  physical  culture  are  carried  on.  The  Balkan 
peoples  —  the  Serbs,  the  Rumanians,  the  Bulgars  — •  are 
among  the  newer  immigrants  and  are  not  yet  organized 
for  physical  culture.  The  Greeks  are  very  fond  of  ath- 
letic exercises,  but  few  are  the  clubs  which  exist  for  this 
purpose;  they  generally  patronize  gymnasiums  in  the 
cities  in  which  they  live. 

The  foreign-born  physical  culture  organizations  manage 
their  affairs  well,  having  a  definite  local  program,  and  they 
are  generally  connected  with  the  parent  organization  in 
the  Old  World.  This  is  especially  the  case  with  the  Scan- 
dinavians, the  Polish  Falcons,  the  German  Turnverein, 
and  the  British  groups.  They  play  the  games  and  prac- 
tice the  exercises  suggested  by  their  fellow  countrymen 
in  the  Old  World,  and  when  anniversary  meets  take 
place  it  is  not  unusual  for  groups  from  the  United 
States  to  cross  the  seas  and  take  part  in  them.  These 
organizations  are  well  able  to  take  care  of  their  own 
affairs ;  the  only  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  this 
field  offers  the  finest  opportunity  for  the  promotion  of 
the  Americanization  program.  The  native-born,  who 
are  organized  into  athletic  associations,  affiliate  with 
these  foreign-born  organizations  and  bring  to  pass  a  more 
thorough  American  spirit  in  the  groups  than  is  done  in 
any  other  line  of  approach.  The  foreign-speaking  young 


154  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

men,  belonging  to  athletic  associations,  are  brought  into 
friendly  relationship  with  the  members  of  the  American 
Athletic  Association,  and  the  contact  and  rivalry  benefit 
both  parties. 

The  group,  however,  in  every  foreign-speaking  com- 
munity that  needs  special  attention  is  composed  of  the 
sons  of  the  foreign-born.  Little  or  no  attention  is  given 
to  the  sons  of  foreigners.  Some  Boy  Scout  chapters 
are  found  among  the  sons  of  the  foreign-born,  but  these 
are  as  oases  in  the  desert.  Some  Italian  clubs  for  boys  are 
found  in  cities  where  that  nationality  is  numerically 
strong.  Settlements  organize  clubs  for  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  the  foreign-born.  The  vast  majority  of  boys 
and  girls  of  foreign  parentage,  however,  are  without 
leadership  of  the  right  kind  to  help  them  to  adjust  their 
life  to  America. 

In  this  chapter  we  discuss  the  question  of  recreational 
activity  for  the  sons  of  foreign-born  men.  The  girls  need 
help  also,  but  the  boy  problem  according  to  my  judgment 
is  the  more  serious. 

1.  The  Need.  "  The  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their 
poverty."  This  is  the  case  with  the  sons  of  the  foreign- 
born.  Immigrants  have  large  families,  and  the  wages 
earned  are  barely  enough  to  provide  them  with  house,  food, 
and  clothing.  Parents  are  not  able  to  give  anything  to  the 
boy  living  in  a  city  where  the  stores  are  bulging  with  goods, 
where  the  moving  picture  theaters  with  thrilling  placards 
and  shining  lights  invite  him,  and  where  soda  fountains  and 
candy  shops  appeal  to  his  appetite.  His  home  is  cramped, 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  155 

his  clothing  scant,  and  the  standard  by  which  the  parents 
were  raised  in  the  poverty  and  penury  of  the  Old  World 
is  the  one  by  which  they  raise  their  children  in  the  New. 
The  boy  sees  the  children  of  the  native-born  better 
dressed,  better  housed,  and  having  more  of  the  luxuries 
of  life  to  enjoy.  Under  these  conditions,  it  is  hard  for 
him  to  walk  straight.  He  wants  some  pleasures,  he  would 
enjoy  some  of  the  sweets  of  the  shop  and  the  bakery, 
he  wants  to  go  to  the  pictures,  to  the  soda  fountain,  to  the 
baseball  park,  but  they  are  out  of  his  reach.  Under  the 
strain,  many  of  them  obtain  money  in  a  way  they  should 
not. 

All  sons  of  the  many  types  of  foreigners  are  not  the 
same.  They  vary  as  their  fathers  vary.  Thomas  Chew, 
who  is  in  charge  of  the  Boys'  Club  in  Fall  River,  describes 
the  sons  of  French  Canadians  as  follows :  "  The  French 
Canadians  are  behind  our  American-born  boys.  I  am 
pretty  sure  that  they  comprise  almost  every  illiterate 
boy  in  Fall  River.  They  are  behind  the  other  boys  in 
playing  games.  They  need  educating  in  play  and  in 
trustworthiness.  They  lack  the  honor  sense.  I  don't 
see  how  I  could  put  them  on  their  honor,  as  we  do  other 
boys  —  they  would  hardly  know  what  I  meant.  They 
do  well  under  the  care  of  an  Americanized  boy.  Probably 
they  will  become  better  citizens  in  another  generation  or 
two."  Compare  that  with  the  characteristics  of  the 
Jewish  boy  as  portrayed  by  G.  W.  Morgan,  of  the  Edu- 
cational Alliance  :  "  One  of  the  most  striking  traits  of  the 
Jewish  character  is  its  intensity  .  .  .  the  Jew  is  developed 


156  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

mentally  at  the  expense  of  the  complementary  sides  of 
his  nature.  It  is  said  of  the  Irishman  that  if  he  cannot 
easily  pick  a  quarrel,  he  begins  to  step  on  his  neighbor's 
toes  as  he  spits  on  his  own  hands  and  prepares  for  a 
clinch.  ...  If  a  Jewish  boy  cannot  agree  with  his  com- 
panion on  some  subject,  he  begins  a  volley  of  pointed 
querying  to  establish  by  what  chain  of  reasoning  his 
companion  can  possibly  agree  with  him  ...  the  strength 
of  his  passions  is  his  distinguishing  trait.  His  nerves 
are  tuned  to  a  high  pitch  and  readily  responsive  to  the 
sympathetic  touch.  His  plans  once  formed,  he  will  plod 
for  years  as  days,  cope  with  difficulties  if  surmountable, 
and  if  otherwise,  bide  his  time  until  conditions  change. 
...  The  Jew  is  an  extremist." 

The  Italian  boy  is  emotional,  and  yet  possesses  native 
shrewdness ;  he  is  far  from  being  a  Puritan,  and  still  he 
loves  justice,  he  believes  in  democracy,  he  is  courteous 
in  manner  and  speech,  he  knows  how  to  drive  a  bargain 
and  can  be  generous ;  he  knows  human  nature  and 
dreads  to  be  considered  a  coward.  The  Slavic  boy  differs 
much  from  this.  He  is  slower  than  the  Jew  and  Italian, 
but  has  greater  perseverance  than  the  latter.  He  is  a 
dreamer,  but  keeps  his  feet  squarely  on  the  ground.  He  is 
genial  and  good-natured,  but  he  also  will  fight  and  can  be 
brutal  when  in  anger.  He  will  endure  wrong  rather  than 
make  a  fuss,  but  if  once  this  boy  takes  a  stand,  he  is 
hard  to  move. 

Of  course,  the  idiosyncrasies  of  the  race  are  modified 
in  the  sons.  Rev.  E.  C.  Sartorio,  speaking  of  the  Italians 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  157 

of  the  second  generation,  says :  "  The  Italian  youth  of  the 
second  generation  oftentimes  loses  the  simplicity,  the 
temperance,  the  love  of  family,  and  the  spirit  of  economy 
of  his  father  without  acquiring  the  generosity,  the  sober- 
ness of  habits,  the  truthfulness,  the  sense  of  justice  and  the 
respect  for  the  law  of  the  true  American."  It  is  often 
observed  that  the  sons  of  Slavs  lose  many  of  the  virtues 
of  their  fathers,  who  are  "  simple,  religious,  humble  and 
quiet,  industrious,  and  very  skillful  in  domestic  manu- 
factures, and  happiest  when  plowing,  sowing,  and  reap- 
ing." The  second  generation  of  Slavs  are  not  as  willing 
as  their  fathers  to  lead  the  simple  life,  to  do  the  hard  work 
in  coal  mines  and  in  steel  and  iron  plants ;  neither  are 
they  as  industrious.  Some  one  has  said  that  this  de- 
parture from  the  simple  life  of  the  fathers  is  degeneracy, 
a  falling  down  to  modern  barbarism. 

This  is  inevitable,  and  possibly  the  public  school  and 
American  institutions  account  for  it.  Standards  in 
public  education  and  social  intercourse  in  America 
differ  much  from  those  in  Europe.  The  child  of  the  immi- 
grant stands  between  these  two  standards.  Under  the 
idea  of  equality  and  liberty,  he  breaks  away  from  the 
standards  in  the  home  and  from  the  control  of  the  parents, 
and  drifts.  The  parents  cannot  control  him,  the  teachers 
in  the  grammar  schools,  although  fine  young  women, 
do  not  appeal  to  the  growing  lad,  and  being  in  the  land  of 
opportunity  he  makes  use  of  it  in  ways  that  are  degener- 
ating to  him  and  a  menace  to  society. 

The  vast  majority  of  the  newer   immigrants  live  in 


158  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

cities.  As  a  rule  they  are  poorly  housed.  They  live 
in  homes  abandoned  by  former  generations  of  immi- 
grants ;  rents  are  high,  accommodations  poor,  and  play- 
grounds scarce.  If  the  family  has  three  rooms,  it  is 
doing  well.  In  the  three  rooms  live  five  or  more  children 
and  the  parents.  The  children  must  play  in  the  street, 
and  home  to  many  of  them  means  little  more  than  a 
place  where  they  sleep  and  eat.  The  boy  comes  to 
puberty  with  very  imperfect  ideas  of  American  standards. 
He  drifts  farther  and  farther  from  the  influence  of  home, 
and  does  not  come  under  wholesome  American  leadership. 
Under  these  conditions,  it  is  not  surprising  that  the  boy 
will  not  follow  the  simple  life  of  his  parents ;  will  get  into 
difficulties ;  and  will  raise  his  hand  against  the  society 
which  he  does  not  understand. 

Nine  tenths  of  the  foreigners  were  raised  in  the  open 
country  where  "  God's  face  could  be  seen  and  His  ways 
known  to  the  humblest  peasant."  The  sons  in  America 
are  raised  in  the  streets  and  there  is  no  "  Angelus," 
no  evening  star,  no  tree  or  flower,  no  stream  with  soft 
music,  and  no  field  where  they  may  wrestle  and  roll  and 
gather  bouquets.  The  hard  streets,  the  harder  curb- 
stone, and  the  still  harderx  laws  behind  the  policeman's 
stick  —  these  meet  the  sons  of  immigrants.  If  they 
could  only  get  the  same  environment  as  their  parents 
had,  they  would  have  a  better  chance  to  retain  the 
simple  virtues  which  adorn  their  fathers'  lives. 

An  effort  is  made  here  and  there  to  remedy  the  defect 
by  parks.  It  is  a  good  thing  as  far  as  it  goes.  Some  of 


RECREATION   ACTIVITIES  159 

our  cities  have  succeeded  far  better  than  others.  I  know 
a  park  three  acres  in  area,  on  which  face  three  churches, 
and  in  a  radius  of  half  a  mile  live  twenty  thousand  immi- 
grants. The  park  has  trees,  flowers,  velvety  grass,  plants, 
shrubs,  swings,  sand  piles,  and  other  equipment.  The 
mothers  and  the  babies  find  it  a  godsend,  but  it  is  a 
torment  to  the  boy.  He  wants  to  play,  he  has  his  ball, 
and  the  park  has  no  diamond.  The  boys  must  play  on 
the  street.  "  Keep  off  the  grass  "  is  not  to  his  liking, 
but  the  beauty  spot  so  pleasing  to  mothers  and  babies 
cannot  be  preserved  in  any  other  way.  Within  a  mile 
of  that  three-acre  oasis  are  a  thousand  boys  between  the 
ages  of  twelve  and  eighteen  ;  the  gang  is  formed  there  with 
no  one  to  lead  it  and  direct  the  goodness  of  the  boys' 
hearts  aright  in  play  and  sport. 

I  have  visited  many  settlements,  and  invariably  the 
boys  reached  are  of  foreign-born  parents.  Settlements 
are  generally  located  in  populous  industrial  centers  where 
the  greatest  congestion  is  found.  They  are  centers  of 
light  in  the  sea  of  humanity  in  cities  where  many  boys 
and  girls  are  lost.  The  men  and  women  in  charge  are 
doing  their  best,  but  how  inadequate  is  the  effort  when  one 
considers  the  thousands  of  boys  and  girls  unreached. 
Those  reached  are  brought  face  to  face  with  higher  stand- 
ards and  acquire  tastes  for  better  things.  This  contact 
must  influence  the  home  from  which  the  boy  comes 
as  well  as  the  boys  who  do  not  frequent  the  settle- 
ment. If  every  boy  and  girl  reached  by  settlements 
becomes  a  power  for  good,  if  he  or  she  stands  for  higher 


160  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

standards,  for  better  and  nobler  things,  the  work  is  well 
done. 

Some  boys  when  they  come  to  the  age  of  sixteen  break 
away  from  these  institutions  to  which  the  "  kids  and  the 
girls  go."  The  lad  who  hankers  for  something  more 
strenuous,  more  appealing  to  his  awakening  nature, 
something  that  will  call  out  the  man  who  will  soon  stand 
on  the  threshold  of  life  —  that  boy  stands  in  greatest 
need  of  direction  and  guidance. 

Much  is  said  about  using  the  schools  as  social  centers. 
Cannot  these  be  made  to  meet  the  need  of  the  boys  and 
girls  of  foreign-born  parents  ?  The  immigrants,  as  before 
stated,  live  in  the  most  congested  part  of  the  city.  Since 
the  families  are  large,  the  school  accommodation  is  gener- 
ally inadequate,  the  rooms  are  crowded,  and  every  avail- 
able room  from  cellar  to  garret  is  in  use.  Modern  school 
buildings,  with  playground,  gymnasium,  and  swimming 
pool,  are  not  usually  found  in  sections  where  the  foreigners 
live.  Where  school  buildings  are  used  as  social  centers, 
they  do  not  meet  the  need  of  the  boys  of  foreign-born 
parents.  Wherever  the  experiment  has  been  honestly 
tried  it  has  met  the  need  of  only  three  or  four  per  cent  of 
the  boys;  the  mass  is  not  reached  and  will  not  be 
reached  by  any  kind  of  educational  propaganda. 

The  boy  of  the  foreign-born  is  the  working  boy.  Under 
economic  stress,  the  growing  boy  and  girl  must  go  to  work 
as  soon  as  possible,  to  supplement  the  family  budget. 
State  and  federal  laws  raise  the  age  limit  at  which 
youths  can  begin  work.  In  most  states  the  age  limit  is 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  161 

fourteen,  but  social  workers  want  sixteen,  and,  if  they  have 
their  way,  the  boy  of  sixteen  who  has  not  finished  grammar 
grades  will  stay  in  school  till  he  is  eighteen.1  I  do  not  dis- 
cuss the  advisability  or  inadvisability  of  this  effort ;  but 
this  type  of  legislation  affects  no  group  in  the  country  as 
it  does  the  immigrant.  They  send  their  children  to 
parochial  schools  and  when  they  leave  these  at  the  age  of 
confirmation,  they  are  one  or  two  years  behind  the  children 
in  the  public  school.  If  the  children  then  go  to  public 
schools,  they  are  put  in  grades  where  the  "  kids  "  are  and 
they  break  away  if  they  can.  The  parents  need  their 
help  at  the  present  minimum  age  at  which  they  can 
begin  work,  fourteen ;  if,  however,  the  law  is  amended 
to  read  that  no  child  under  sixteen  or  seventeen  years 
of  age  can  obtain  his  working  papers  unless  he  has  grad- 
uated from  the  elementary  school,  a  majority  of  these 
foreign  children,  who  ordinarily  graduate  later  than  the 
native-born,  will  be  kept  out  of  industry  until  an  un- 
fortunately late  age. 

When  these  boys  begin  to  work  they  need  strong 
leadership  far  more  than  when  they  were  in  school.  A 
lad  who  works  has  money  of  his  own,  he  feels  the  path  of 
life  under  his  feet  and  wants  to  tread  it,  he  cannot  long 
be  kept  under  old-country  regime,  the  narrow  life  of  his 
parents  will  not  suit  him ;  on  all  sides  a  new  world  calls 
him  and  around  is  the  larger  and  more  abundant  life 

1  In  the  city  of  New  York,  in  1919,  of  18,749  children,  fourteen  years 
of  age,  given  working  certificates,  13,694  or  73%  had  not  finished  the 
eighth  grade,  and  of  11,709  children  fifteen  years  of  age  beginning  work, 
7734  or  34%  had  not  completed  the  eighth  grade  work. 


162  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

into  which  he  longs  to  launch  —  he  needs  a  leader.  To 
give  this  boy  the  right  leadership,  to  direct  his  craving 
for  the  larger  lif e  of  America  —  that  is  a  challenge  to  the 
best  manhood  of  America. 

We  need  also  to  bring  the  son  of  the  foreigner  and  the 
son  of  the  native-born  into  closer  union  and  better  under- 
standing. Professor  Pupin  says  that  his  colleagues  in 
college  considered  him  an  American,  not  because  he  took 
the  first  prize  in  Greek  and  in  mathematics,  but  because 
he  could  fight.  That  is  the  way  Italian  boys  along  the 
Hudson  prove  their  Americanism. 

Racial  pride  and  antipathy  are  found  in  working  boys. 
Boys  are  called  "  Dago,"  or  "  Hunkie,"  although  native- 
born,  because  their  fathers  are  foreigners.  This  hinders 
community  interest  in  American  life.  Some  good  men 
believe  that  the  foreign-born  and  his  son  are  good  for 
nothing  save  to  do  the  chores  of  the  nation.  This  is 
not  the  American  spirit.  I  am  glad  to  testify  that  most 
foremen  and  superintendents  I  have  found  are  anxious  to 
give  the  boy  of  foreign  parentage  a  square  deal.  The  son 
of  the  foreign-born  needs  the  same  opportunities  in 
education,  play,  and  work  as  are  given  to  the  sons  of  the 
native-born.  He  does  not  ask  anything  more,  he  deserves 
nothing  less.  All  he  wants  is  a  clear  field  and  a  fair 
chance.  His  father  knew  little  of  America  and  was 
satisfied  with  few  things.  His  son  raised  in  our  schools 
knows  America,  its  opportunities,  its  riches,  and  its 
possibilities.  He  cannot  be  put  under  the  yoke  while 
others  enjoy  the  privileges  of  American  civilization. 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  163 

2.  Possible  Service.  The  home  is  the  most  influential 
of  all  forces  in  shaping  the  lives  of  men,  and  the  boys  who 
have  good  homes  ought  to  be  encouraged  to  make  them 
the  place  where  their  chief  interests  center.  Homes  will 
hold  boys  only  when  they  are  attractive  as  well  as  dis- 
ciplinary, loving  as  well  as  educative,  joyous  as  well  as 
cooperative.  This  demands  an  adequate  material  basis, 
and  unfortunately  this  is  wanting  in  the  homes  of  thou- 
sands of  foreign-born  men  in  the  United  States.  If  a  home 
is  made  up  of  two  rooms,  it  is  hypocritical  to  expect  a  boy 
—  one  of  five  or  six  children  —  to  spend  his  evenings  in  it. 
The  mother  cannot  find  room  for  the  boy,  and  will  not 
be  able  to  keep  him  off  the  streets. 

Mr.  John  Ihlder,  Secretary  of  the  Philadelphia  Housing 
Association,  asked  in  an  Americanization  Conference  in 
Washington,  D.C.,  "  Can  we  Americanize  the  spirits  of 
our  foreign-born  without  Americanizing  their  environ- 
ment?" and  his  answer  was  an  unequivocal  "No." 
Any  one  familiar  with  the  cramped  quarters  where 
foreigners  live,  the  dirty  streets,  the  congestion,  sym- 
pathizes with  Mr.  Ihlder's  views,  vand  what  is  bad  for 
the  adult  is  tenfold  worse  for  his  son  of  native  birth. 
The  boys  need  better  and  larger  homes  to  conform  with 
twentieth-century  standards. 

Better  housing,  however,  is  not  the  only  thing  needed 
to  aid  boys  to  adjust  themselves  to  the  relations  of 
life.  The  parents  themselves  need  to  face  their  respon- 
sibility to  their  sons.  The  trend  of  modern  social  legis- 
lation is  to  relieve  the  parents  of  obligations  which  were 


164  THE   PROBLEM    OF   AMERICANIZATION 

a  pleasure  to  loving  fathers  and  mothers  in  former  years. 
They  are  not  required  to  sacrifice  to  secure  the  books  the 
boy  needs  in  school  —  they  are  provided  ;  they  need  not 
feel  anxious  whether  the  boy  is  at  school  or  not  —  the 
truant  officer  attends  to  that ;  the  public  recreational 
inspector  arranges  for  his  play  life  and  the  church  sees 
to  his  religious  life ;  and  now  municipalities  are  still 
further  asked  to  make  appropriations  for  meals  in  the 
schools,  physical  examinations,  dental  clinics,  clothing 
and  shoes,  and  places  where  the  children  may  be  safely 
kept  while  the  parents  go  to  the  moving  pictures.  The 
responsibility  for  the  physical,  educational,  and  religious 
training  of  the  boy  is  shifted  from  the  home  to  outside 
agencies.  These  may  be  in  the  hands  of  good  men  and 
women,  specially  trained  to  discharge  these  several 
functions,  but  they  will  never  be  discharged  as  they 
would  be  by  loving  and  caretaking  parents.  The  subtle 
tendency  to  shirk  our,  responsibility,  so  apparent  in 
civic  life,  has  crept  to  an  alarming  degree  into  the  home, 
and  parents  turn  over  to  others  the  duties  which  devolve 
upon  them  by  the  laws  of  nature  and  of  God,  and  which 
can  never  be  as  well  discharged  by  other  agencies. 

The  public  school  is  doing  splendid  work  in  the  edu- 
cation of  the  sons  of  foreign-born  parents.  Many  school 
buildings  in  our  cities  are  imposing  structures,  influencing 
for  good  the  mind  of  the  child.  The  elementary  curric- 
ulum is  also  well  calculated  to  prepare  them  for  the 
duties  of  life.  The  care  taken  of  the  children  and  the  love 
bestowed  upon  them  by  their  teachers  are  potent  forces  in 


RECREATION   ACTIVITIES  165 

shaping  the  lives  of  the  boys.  If  the  sons  of  foreign-born 
parents  are  kept  in  school  till  they  are  sixteen  years  of  age, 
the  one  regrettable  feature  is  that  the  teachers  are  not 
always  strong,  manly  men  who  would  appeal  to  the 
growing  boy.  The  boys  of  foreign-born  homes,  especially 
during  the  last  few  years  of  their  school  life,  should  be 
taught  by  persons  other  than  young  girls. 

With  the  raising  of  the  legal  age  at  which  boys  may  be 
employed  there  should  also  go  a  better  adaptation  of 
school  courses  to  the  needs  of  these  lads.  The  education 
given  children  up  to  the  sixth  grade  is  well  planned  to 
give  them  the  rudiments  necessary  for  the  work  of  life, 
but  subsequent  courses  are  not  so  adapted.  When  the 
boy  is  twelve  years  old,  he  wants  to  use  his  hands,  and 
especially  is  this  the  case  if  he  has  little  else  open  to 
him  but  a  life  of  manual  toil.  In  towns  like  Lawrence, 
where  the  boys  will  have  to  go  to  the  mill  to  earn  a  living ; 
or  like  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  where  they  will  have  to 
go  into  the  mines ;  or  like  Farrell,  Pennsylvania,  where  they 
will  go  into  the  steel  mill ;  or  like  Akron,  where  they 
will  go  into  the  rubber  factory,  there  should  be  some 
arrangement  by  which  the  boys  of  thirteen  could  get 
training  in  these  industries,  in  processes,  in  the  nature  of 
material,  in  the  handling  of  tools,  in  rules  that  govern 
the  trade,  to  fit  them  to  earn  their  living.  Ninety  per 
cent  of  the  boys  must  earn  their  bread  and  butter  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  "  bread  and  butter  education  "  should 
be  given  if  it  aids  them  to  earn  their  living  in  a  better 
and  happier  way. 


166  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

Almost  all  the  sons  of  foreigners  come  from  homes  where 
the  struggle  for  subsistence  is  a  continuous  one.  The 
problem  of  providing  three  meals  a  day,  of  keeping  the 
family  clothed,  of  paying  the  rent,  the  gas  bill,  the  coal 
bill,  is  a  serious  one,  and  the  standards  of  idealists  have 
little  place  in  this  matter-of-fact  home.  To  have  the 
boy  study  algebra,  the  classics,  drawing,  rhetoric,  ad- 
vanced English,  may  be  acquiesced  in  by  parents,  but 
it  does  not  receive  the  indorsement  of  their  practical 
judgment.  If  the  boy  spent  half  his  time  in  the  factory 
school,  where,  under  sympathetic,  wise,  and  experienced 
teachers,  he  would  learn  how  to  handle  tools,  grow  fa- 
miliar with  processes,  know  something  about  machines, 
what  a  bodkin  means,  how  to  tie  the  thread,  and  be  trained 
in  some  craft,  he  would  be  a  better  worker,  earn  more, 
and  drift  less.  Such  a  program  would  appeal  to  parents, 
who  would  heartily  cooperate  with  both  teacher  and 
industrial  supervisor. 

The -boy  coming  to  the  age  of  adolescence  also  needs 
the  discipline  of  work.  To  keep  the  overgrown  son  of 
the  stolid  Slav  in  school  till  he  is  sixteen  or  seventeen 
is  not  good  for  the  boy  or  the  parents.  The  studies 
pursued  in  our  school  to-day  will  not  hold  the  boy,  and  the 
parents  protest  against  them.  They  want  something 
practical  and  the  boy  longs  to  join  the  army  of  his  peers 
who  earn  their  bread  by  work  ;  to  get  up  with  the  workers, 
tramp  the  streets  to  work  in  the  early  morning,  stand  at 
the  machine  till  the  bell  rings,  to  quit  and  draw  his 
pay.  He  needs  the  boss,  the  regular  task,  the  penalty 


RECREATION   ACTIVITIES  167 


of  failure,  the  reward  of  success.  He  needs  the  compe- 
tition of  other  boys,  the  rivalry  that  calls  out  laudable 
effort  and  the  stimulus  which  comes  from  work  well 
done.  There  is  nothing  that  will  take  the  place  of  this 
discipline  of  work  in  the  life  of  boys  in  the  adolescent 
period,  and  to  deprive  them  of  it  without  the  substi- 
tution  of  some  means  equally  good  for  the  future  of 
the  boy  as  a  wage-earner,  is  not  wise  nor  of  social 
advantage. 

Parallel  with  the  raising  of  the  age  at  which  boys  can 
begin  work  should  go  a  plan  of  industrial  education  for 
boys  destined  to  manual  labor.  This  would  be  welcomed 
by  the  sons  of  foreigners.  Every  community  where  indus- 
tries flourish  should  perfect  a  plan  by  which  boys  of  four- 
teen should  spend  half  their  time  in  work  and  half  in  school 
until  they  are  sixteen,  when  they  should  become  members 
of  the  industrial  army  of  that  town.  A  mechanical  arts 
department  connected  with  the  public  school  is  in  most 
instances  more  of  an  apology  than  anything  else.  The 
equipment  is  meager,  the  things  done  by  the  boys  are 
more  play  than  work,  the  master's  knowledge  is  generally 
that  of  one  trade,  and  the  work  done  is  not  taken  seriously. 
It  is  too  artificial,  too  far  removed  from  the  real  task  of 
life.  Put  the  boy  in  a  real  factory,  where  things  are  made 
for  the  market,  where  men  and  women  are  in  dead 
earnest  making  a  living,  where  the  foreman  knows  his 
job,  and  his  worth  is  estimated  in  terms  of  production. 
That  is  the  field  for  the  boy,  and  the  manufacturers' 
association  in  every  industrial  community  would  be  dis- 


168  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

charging  a  community  obligation  by  making  its  plant 
a  school  as  well  as  an  economic  asset  to  society. 

The  play  life  of  boys  also  needs  leadership.  Play  is 
to  the  boy  what  color  is  to  the  flower.  A  boy  who  does 
not  play  is  unnatural.  It  is  his  first  real  contact  with 
life,  and  he  learns  for  the  first  time  something  of  the 
rules  of  the  game  of  life.  The  boys  of  the  age  of  adoles- 
cence want  play  that  means  physical  endurance,  such 
as  boxing,  wrestling,  running,  hurling.  Slight-of-hand 
work  and  the  tricks  of  magicians  are  their  delight. 
Leaders  able  to  direct  their  play  life  along  these  lines 
can  do  anything  they  will  with  the  boys.  The  ambition 
of  every  healthy  boy  is  to  excel  in  manly  strength. 
Physical  exercise  is  indulged  in  for  this  purpose,  and 
boys  having  this  ambition  are  never  more  hurt  than 
when  told  that  they  cannot  develop  a  fine  muscle.  How 
to  supply  the  right  leadership  to  the  boy  of  foreign 
parentage  coming  to  adolescence  is  one  of  the  most 
pressing  problems  in  Americanization. 

I  have  mentioned  earlier  in  this  chapter  the  Sokols  of  the 
Czechs,  the  Falcons  of  the  Poles,  the  Turnverein  of  the 
Germans,  —  societies  for  the  physical  culture  of  adults. 
They  do  not  touch  the  boys  of  the  foreign-speaking.  Most 
of  the  halls  in  which  physical  exercises  are  carried  on  are 
not  fit  places  for  growing  boys  to  frequent.  Some  parish 
halls  are  used  for  this  purpose,  but  as  a  rule  they  are 
poorly  equipped.  Some  philanthropic  organizations  are 
found,  — in  Fall  River,  Troy,  Buffalo,  and  other  places, 
—  which  are  doing  good  work  among  the  boys  of  foreign 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  169 

* 
parentage.     Looking  over  the  field  of  the  boys  of  foreign 

parentage  in  the  country  as  a  whole,  we  are  safe  in  say- 
ing that  the  provision  to  take  care  of  the  play  life  of  these 
lads  is  woefully  wanting.  No  class  of  boys  in  the  country 
has  greater  need,  no  class  is  left  more  to  its  own  resources. 
When  a  delegation  from  the  government  of  Italy  came  to 
the  United  States  to  study  the  conditions  of  Italians  in 
America,  they  stated  that  the  sons  of  Italian  immigrants 
raised  in  New  York  City  did  not  come  up  to  the  physical 
standard  of  their  parents.  This  criticism  will  hold 
true  of  the  sons  of  foreigners  generally.  They  live  under 
different  conditions  from  those  found  in  agricultural  com- 
munities in  which  their  fathers  were  raised.  It  is  the  same 
problem  as  that  of  the  descendants  of  men  who  come  from 
the  farm  to  the  city;  their  children  do  not  possess  the 
same  vigor  or  grow  to  the  same  stature  as  their  fathers. 

The  sons  of  foreigners  will  not  work  on  the  farm  any 
more  than  their  fathers  did.  Many  farming  sections  are 
populated  by  Scandinavians,  Germans,  and  Bohemians. 
Some  farms  are  held  by  Finns,  Italians,  Poles,  Magyars, 
and  Jews  ;  but  the  number  of  these  several  peoples  found 
in  agricultural  communities  is  as  a  drop  in  the  bucket 
when  compared  with  the  millions  in  industrial  com- 
munities. The  problem  of  the  sons  of  foreign  parentage 
is  a  city  problem,  and  the  equipment  necessary  to  do 
efficient  work  costs  money. 

3.  Urban  Advantages.  The  question  of  the  physical 
development  of  the  sons  of  foreign-born  parentage  can 
be  settled  only  by  carefully  applied  scientific  measure- 


170  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

ments.  These  should  be  given  by  competent  men  and  on 
a  scale  large  enough  to  give  data  that  will  suffice  to 
base  facts  upon.  If  the  physical  organism  of  the  son  of  the 
immigrant  is  deteriorating  in  our  cities,  society  ought  to 
know  it,  for  nothing  is  more  important  for  the  future  of 
an  industrial  community.  There  are,  however,  certain 
advantages  in  urban  life  which  should  be  made  available 
to  the  sons  of  foreign-born  parents. 

One  of  the  greatest  of  these  is  the  intellectual  oppor- 
tunity which  never  comes  to  the  sons  of  men  in  rural  com- 
munities. The  city  dwellers  have  better  educational 
facilities,  libraries  from  which  to  draw  books,  and  other 
means  of  culture,  such  as  lectures,  music,  and  art.  It 
has  been  stated  that  no  man  ever  achieved  fame  who  did 
not  enjoy  the  advantages  of  urban  life  when  his  intellect 
was  in  the  making.  It  is  the  city,  with  its  varied  life, 
with  its  jostling  and  hurrying,  with  its  chances  and  its 
changes,  its  celebrities  and  its  varied  talent,  its  rich 
reward's  and  its  appreciation  of  talent,  that  calls  out  the 
best  in  the  lives  of  men.  Urban  life  has  its  physical  dis- 
advantages but  it  also  has  advantages  of  cultural  and 
moral  value. 

I  have  not  known  one  person  whose  special  function  was 
to  bring  to  the  attention  of  sons  of  foreigners  the  advan- 
tages that  are  at  their  door.  Why  could  not  the  Ameri- 
canization Community  Committee  do  this?  Take  the 
city  of  Philadelphia;  how  many  of  the  sons  of  Italians, 
in  the  Italian  colony,  know  anything  about  the  art  gal- 
leries in  the  city  ?  An  effort  to  bring  this  art  by  lecture, 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  171 

illustrated  by  stereopticon  slide,  before  the  Italian  youths 
would  quicken  their  artistic  talent.  How  many  of  the 
sons  of  Slavs  in  Philadelphia  know  anything  of  the  horti- 
cultural interests  in  the  city  ?  They  are  sons  of  farmers, 
their  tastes  for  horticultural  products  is  in  the  blood,  and 
with  proper  culture  we  might  well  look  among  the  lads 
in  this  group  for  many  who  would  contribute  to  the  agri- 
cultural interests  of  the  country. 

Much  has  been  done  in  popularizing  the  library,  but  for 
the  sons  of  foreign-born  parents  little  is  done  to  guide 
them  hi  the  proper  use  of  books,  that  they  may  use  them  to 
aid  either  in  the  conflict  of  life  or  in  enriching  its  values. 
The  educational  advantages  of  our  cities  are  boundless. 
There  are  hundreds  of  men  who  would  gladly  help  the 
sons  of  foreigners  to  make  better  use  of  their  time  and 
their  talent ;  there  are  thousands  of  sons  of  foreign- 
born  parents  in  a  city  like  Pittsburgh  who  would  be  glad 
of  such  help  that  they  might  become  of  greater  use  to 
society  and  to  themselves.  The  need  is  to  bring  these 
two  personalities  together  —  the  one  who  is  willing  to 
give,  the  other  who  is  willing  to  receive. 

Any  one  visiting  Cooper  Institute  and  talking  a  few 
minutes  with  the  director  learns  that  the  waiting  list  of 
students  in  every  department  is  very  large.  Boys  from 
foreign-speaking  homes  come  knocking  at  the  door  of  this 
institution  and  cannot  enter,  for  there  is  no  room.  They 
are  thirsting  for  knowledge,  and  opportunity  is  wanting. 
In  thirty  cities  of  the  first  class,  north  of  the  Ohio  River, 
the  sons  of  foreign-born  parents  are  from  twenty  to 


172  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  school  population  and  they  are 
the  least  educated.  They  begin  work  early  and,  lacking 
economic  opportunity,  they  remain  in  the  lower  ranks  of 
labor  all  their  days.  Better  educational  advantages 
would  have  enabled  some  of  them  to  rise  to  positions  of 
responsibility.  It  is  the  privilege  of  the  American- 
ization director  to  open  the  door  of  opportunity  to  these 
boys. 

One  way  in  which  he  may  do  this  is  to  address  societies 
of  boys  in  foreign-speaking  churches.  In  a  Greek  Ortho- 
dox Church  in  the  east,  two  hundred  and  fifty  boys  were 
found  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  sixteen ;  the  priest  wel- 
comed an  agency  that  enlarged  the  lives  of  these  boys  and 
led  them  into  the  more  abundant  life.  There  are  scores 
of  priests  who  do  not  know  what  to  do  to  extend  oppor- 
tunities to  boys,  and  a  wise  presentation  of  what  ad- 
vantages lie  near  them  is  welcomed.  The  members  of  a 
club  organized  by  one  of  the  educators  of  New  York  City 
to  visit  historical  places  in  and  around  the  metropolis  were 
astonished  to  find  so  much  material  of  interest  on  Man- 
hattan Island.  If  a  man  who  knows  art  should  offer  to 
conduct  a  group  of  Italian  boys  of  fourteen  or  sixteen 
years  through  the  several  art  exhibits  in  Philadelphia, 
would  not  the  priests  in  Italian  parishes  gladly  cooperate  ? 
If  the  Slavic  boys  could  visit  the  botanical  gardens,  or 
museums  of  natural  history,  or  an  industrial  exhibit,  it 
would  mean  a  rebirth  to  some  of  them.  The  more  often 
such  parties  are  organized  the  better.  We  do  not  begin 
to  develop  the  cultural  opportunities  of  cities.  Society 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  173 

can  well  afford  to  bestow  on  boys  of  native  ability  the 
best  of  culture  no  matter  who  their  parents  may  be. 

The  city  offers  much  material  in  men  and  equipment 
that  can  be  used  in  doing  work  of  a  practical  character 
for  the  sons  of  foreign-born  men.  I  have  a  friend  in  a 
first-class  city  who  is  giving  all  his  time  to  the  sons  of 
immigrants.  In  a  statement  he  sent  me  recently,  he  gives 
instances  of  how  other  organizations  serve  the  boys  under 
his  leadership.  He  has  a  Glee  Club  made  up  largely  of 
Russian  and  Italian  boys.  They  sing  well,  and  the 
director  is  proud  of  the  lads.  Through  a  friend,  he 
brought  the  singing  ability  of  his  Club  to  the  attention 
of  the  president  of  the  Rotary  Club,  who  sent  an  in- 
vitation to  the  boys  to  sing  at  one  of  the  regular  meetings 
of  the  Rotarians.  Thirty  boys  came  and  sang  before  the 
body  and  captivated  every  member.  The  leader  of  the 
boys  writes :  "  After  the  meeting  several  members 
came  to  me  and  wanted  to  know  what  they  could  do  for 
these-  boys,  and  it  is  up  to  me  to  point  them  the  way." 
Another  group  of  fifteen  boys,  made  up  mostly  of  Mexi- 
cans, entertained  the  business  men  of  the  City  Club. 
They  sang,  wrestled,  danced,  tumbled,  and  boxed.  The 
only  performer  other  than  the  boys  was  the  accompanist 
and  a  player  on  the  saxophone.  The  boys  acquitted 
themselves  splendidly,  and  many  of  the  men  at  the  close 
of  the  hour  had  a  higher  appreciation  of  the  foreigners' 
sons. 

The  sequel  of  this  effort  of  the  boys  to  entertain  "  real  " 
Americans  is  significant.  Some  members  of  the  Rotary 


174  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

Club  furnished  the  trucks  necessary  to  take  the  boys  of 
the  Glee  Club  and  their  friends  for  an  outing  to  a  moun- 
tain twenty-five  miles  from  the  city.  The  boys  and  their 
leaders  numbered  seventy-six.  They  had  a  glorious 
time.  They  played,  cooked  their  own  food,  listened  to 
stories  of  great  men,  erected  a  pole  and  unfurled  the 
Stars  and  Stripes  on  the  highest  peak  of  the  mountain. 
The  boys  still  speak  of  the  trip,  and  ask  when  they  can 
go  again.  The  men  who  were  entertained  by  the  Mexican 
boys  invited  the  lads  to  a  bountiful  "  spread."  The 
donors  had  real  fun  in  the  event,  and  the  boys  did  justice 
to  the  ample  supply  of  good  things  prepared  for  them. 

In  another  city  where  there  are  many  foreigners,  six 
clubs  have  been  organized  for  boys  of  as  many  nation- 
alities. The  men  in  charge  of  this  work  arrange,  now  and 
again,  a  joint  meeting  of  all  the  clubs,  and  all  the  boys 
sing  and  play  and  have  a  social  time  together.  In  each 
meeting  some  prominent  man  is  invited  to  address  the 
boys,  and  they  never  fail  to  listen  to  one  who  has  some- 
thing worth  while  to  say.  In  the  summer  time  friendly 
games  are  played  between  the  members  of  these  clubs, 
and  the  contact  of  group  with  group  under  proper  leader- 
ship is  refining  and  stimulating.  The  best  team  of  the 
boys  of  foreign-born  parentage  challenged  the  "  Mo- 
hawks," made  up  of  sons  of  native-born  parents.  In  the 
contest  the  challengers  won.  The  "  real  "  American  boys 
in  that  town  have  considerable  respect  for  the  sons  of  the 
immigrants. 

I  believe  that  it  is  not  best  to  organize  clubs  of  boys 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  175 

wholly  made  up  of  sons  of  foreigners.  We  have,  however, 
in  large  cities  to  face  the  facts.  .In  the  Italian  quarter 
in  Philadelphia,  where  there  are  more  than  a  hundred 
thousand  Italians,  the  worker  must,  in  that  section  of  the 
city,  organize  boys'  clubs  wholly  made  up  of  Italians. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  Polish  section  of  Chicago,  and  the 
Greek  section  of  Lowell.  In  such  instances,  the  director 
is  helpless.  If  any  organization  is  perfected  for  boys  in 
a  foreign  quarter  of  a  populous  city,  it  must  be  done  for 
one  nationality.  The  objective,  however,  in  this,  as  in 
all  Americanization  work,  should  be  to  weld  the  various 
nations  into  one.  The  director  can  only  hope  to  do  this 
with  boys  organized  in  foreign  sections  of  large  industrial 
centers,  by  bringing  together  the  foreign-  and  native-born 
youth  in  friendly  games.  When  this  is  judiciously  done, 
the  result  invariably  is  satisfactory. 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  has  been  to  state  how  it  is 
possible  to  conserve  the  physical  power  of  the  growing 
manhood  in  the  homes  of  foreign-born.  I  feel,  however, 
that  the  recreational  program  would  come  short  of  the 
best  results  for  the  sons  of  foreigners  if  it  did  not  conserve 
moral  as  well  as  physical  and  mental  values.  Lowes 
Dickinson  said :  "  The  Greeks  are  the  only  people  who 
have  conceived  athletics  spiritually."  I  believe  in  vo- 
cational guidance,  in  baths,  in  gymnasiums,  in  socials, 
and  hikes;  but  the  sons  of  foreigners  will  not  come  to 
their  own  if  these  are  considered  an  end  in  themselves. 
In  a  section  of  the  metropolis  of  this  nation,  made  up 
wholly  of  foreign-born  families,  the  public  school,  the 


176  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

library,  the  Boy  Scout  master,  and  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  have 
joined  hands  to  bring  together  the  boys  of  twenty  differ- 
ent peoples,  once  a  week,  for  singing  and  a  sound  lecture 
on  character-building.  Between  four  and  five  hundred 
boys  assembled.  Good  music  is  furnished,  the  speakers 
are  drawn  from  all  classes  and  creeds,  and  the  boys  enjoy 
coming.  This  effort  in  behalf  of  the  young  manhood  of 
this  section  of  the  city  has  gone  on  for  more  than  a  decade, 
and  is  as  popular  to-day  as  the  day  on  which  it  was  in- 
stituted. Each  of  the  four  organizations  conducting  the 
work  chooses  its  leading  young  men  to  sit  on  the  com- 
mittee of  management.  The  tickets  for  the  meetings 
are  distributed  through  the  several  organizations  by 
their  own  members  ;  the  young  men  feel  they  are  doing 
it  themselves,  and  it  is  a  success. 

No  one  can  tell  what  amount  of  good  results  from  these 
efforts,  but  the  consensus  of  opinion  of  those  who  have 
observed  them  is  that  they  contribute  much  to  the  moral 
fiber  of  the  growing  youth  of  the  community.  They 
bring  to  the  attention  of  the  boys  standards  of  conduct, 
the  ethics  of  business,  and  the  social  obligations  binding 
all  men.  The  sons  of  foreigners  are  undoubtedly  more 
neglected  and  more  tried  than  the  sons  of  native-born, 
and  an  effort  of  this  kind  is  undoubtedly  worth  while. 

REFERENCES 

THE  BOY  PROBLEM:  William  Byron  Forbush. 

A  SCHOOLMASTER  OF  THE  GREAT  CITY  :  Angelo  Patri. 

THE  WAGE-EARNING  BOY:  C.  C.  Robinson. 


RECREATION  ACTIVITIES  177 

VOCATIONAL  EDUCATION:  David  Snedden. 

MEMORANDUM   ON   THE    INDUSTRIAL   SITUATION    AFTER   THE 

WAR,  Garton  Foundation,  Section  97  (1917). 
LABOR  AND  ADMINISTRATION:    John  R.   Commons,  Chapter 

XX. 

CITIZENS  IN  INDUSTRY:   Charles   R.  Henderson,  Chapter  VI. 
EDUCATION  FOR  CITIZENSHIP  :   George  Kerschensteiner. 
EDUCATION  IN  RELIGION  AND  MORALS  :  George  A.  Coe. 
BOY  LIFE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT:   George  Walter  Fiske. 
EDUCATION  PROBLEMS:  G.  Stanley  Hall,  Chapters  IV,  VII 

and  IX. 
CHARACTER  BUILDING  CLUBS  FOR  BOYS  :  Sydney  H.  Baker. 


CHAPTER  IX 
ADVISORY  COUNCILS 

THE  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  advocate  the  organ- 
ization of  boards  of  counselors  to  advise  the  foreign- 
born  in  all  cases  of  difficulty.  It  may  be  said  that  a 
board  of  this  kind  would  be  of  great  value  to  the  native- 
born  wage-earner.  I  don't  doubt  it  for  a  moment.  My 
special  purpose  now  is  to  make  a  plea  for  the  foreign- 
born  wage-earner;  the  man  who  comes  to  America  ig- 
norant of  the  English  language,  and  from  a  country 
wholly  different  in  civil  government,  economic  life,  and 
social  custom.  This  man  needs  help,  which  should  be 
given  to  him  free  of  charge. 

It  is  surprising  how  many  people  are  ready  to  exploit 
their  fellow  men.  An  instance  which  came  to  my  atten- 
tion lately  well  illustrates  how  widely  scattered  this 
spirit  is,  and  how  men  clothed  with  a  little  authority  use 
their  power  to  their  own  profit.  A  company  of  Albanians 
wishing  to  go  back  to  Albania  asked  a  leader  of  their 
own  nationality  to  carry  on  the  preliminary  arrangements. 
They  needed  passports,  and  the  leader  said  it  would  cost 
each  man  six  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents  for  fees  and  in- 
cidentals. The  leader  did  not  know  how  to  get  the  pass- 

178 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  179 

ports,  so  he  applied  to  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  secretary,  who 
secured  them  at  an  expense  of  three  dollars  per  man. 
The  leader,  when  asked  to  return  to  each  man  the 
other  three  dollars  and  seventy-five  cents,  refused  to  do 
so.  The  representative  of  the  federal  government  in 
that  district  had  to  sign  each  passport,  and  asked  each 
man  to  pay  him  five  dollars  for  doing  so.  The  question 
was  taken  up  with  Washington,  and  the  men  were  told 
that  the  agent  had  no  right  to  charge  a  cent.  Four  of  the 
men,  impatient  at  the  delay  incident  to  the  routine  of 
government  agency,  went  to  a  deputy  counselor  and  asked 
his  aid.  He  served  them,  expedited  the  process  by  a 
few  days,  and  charged  each  man  fifty  dollars  for  the  serv- 
ice. This,  unfortunately,  is  the  way  many  foreign- 
born  men  are  treated.  In  every  foreign-speaking  colony 
there  are  those  who  thrive  on  the  ignorance  and  weaknesses 
of  the  wage-earners.  These  cunning  men  render  service 
to  their  countrymen,  but  their  charges  are  exorbitant. 
Against  these  practices  the  Americanization  worker  should 
wage  war ;  the  wrong  done  the  foreign-born,  though  not 
known  to  him  at  the  time,  will  later  be  found  out  and 
it  has  a  tremendous  influence  in  shaping  his  thoughts  of 
America. 

The  organization  of  a  Board  of  Advisors,  willing  to  sit 
and  give  free  advice,  will  have  two  effects :  it  will  drive 
many  of  the  parasites  out  of  business,  and  will  also  give 
the  wage-earner  of  foreign  birth  greater  confidence. 
If  this  immigrant  brother  knows  that  his  American  friends 
are  willing  to  help  him  and  see  that  he  secures  an  honest 


180  THE   PROBLEM    OF   AMERICANIZATION 

deal,  he  will  not  submit  to  exploitation.  This  service  will 
shape  aright  the  opinions  of  immigrants  and  will  break 
down  the  wall  of  partition  between  the  foreign-  and  the 
native-born. 

1.  The  Difficulties  of  a  New  Environment.  Americans, 
traveling  in  foreign  countries,  having  only  their  mother 
tongue  at  their  command,  know  the  difficulties  en- 
countered by  the  immigrants  coming  to  America.  Our 
people  traveling  in  Europe  are  alert ;  when  in  difficulty 
they  can  command  the  services  of  capable  interpreters. 
That  is  not  the  case  with  the  immigrants  in  the  United 
States.  They  have  no  money  and  often  no  friends ;  they 
are  shy  and  timid ;  they  left  a  backward  country  and  are 
bewildered  by  the  wonders  they  see  in  a  progressive  one ; 
they  handle  tools  which  do  more  work  in  an  hour  than 
their  fathers  would  do  in  a  month.  Under  these  conditions 
who  can  discern  the  thoughts  of  these  men  ?  Let  the  men 
on  the  Advisory  Council  put  themselves  in  their  place  and 
they  will  do  their  work  better. 

Everything  in  America  is  very  different  from  the  home- 
land. An  immigrant  taken  from  Ellis  Island  to  the  subway 
is  bewildered  and  terrified  ;  men  and  women  rushing  to  and 
fro  underground,  transported  by  some  unseen  and  un- 
known power,  is  a  thing  he  never  thought  possible. 
When  he  looks  for  work,  he  again  sees  men  rushing 
to  and  fro  at  a  breakneck  speed  and  working  at  a  pace 
never  thought  possible  in  the  Old  World.  At  home  he 
worked  leisurely,  sociability  and  industry  were  wedded 
together;  he  sang  at  his  work  there;  in  America  there 


ADVISORY   COUNCILS  181 

is  no  song  and  no  sociability  is  possible.  He  buys  clothes 
and  food  and  finds  that  he  must  pay  for  these  three  times 
as  much  as  he  paid  for  food  and  clothing  in  Europe. 
He  pays  as  much  in  rent  for  one  room  in  America  as  he 
would  for  a  farm  in  the  homeland. 

Who  can  tell  what  thoughts  come  and  go  in  this  man's 
mind?  You  may  talk  to  him  of  the  American  standard 
of  living,  but  he  will  not  understand ;  all  he  knows  is 
that  he  pays  so  much  for  food,  clothes,  and  shelter,  and 
he  computes  it  in  Old  World  money  and  he  cannot 
understand  it.  He  goes  to  church  and  is  expected  to 
pay  every  time  he  enters  the  building.  This  is  a 
new  thing  —  he  never  paid  anything  in  the  homeland, 
and  he  cannot  understand  why  he  should  do  so  here, 
and  a  lecture  to  him  on  the  separation  of  church  and 
state  will  not  help.  He  finds  a  difference  in  the  enjoy- 
ments of  life.  He  goes  to  a  dance  and  finds  himself  in 
an  atmosphere  wholly  different  from  anything  he  ever 
experienced  before.  Men  and  women  are  more  free, 
they  do  not  pay  attention  to  the  courtesies  common  in 
the  Old  World,  there  is  an  air  of  recklessness  in  the  con- 
duct of  all,  money  is  liberally  spent.  In  some  countries  in 
Europe  these  habits  also  prevail  and  racial  custom  is 
forgotten.  In  mining  camps  and  mill  towns  liquor  is 
still  procurable  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  law  of  the  land 
forbids  its  sale.  Men  under  the  influence  of  drink  often 
become  boastful,  quarrelsome,  and  even  brutal.  The 
foreigner  cannot  understand  all  this,  but  nine  times  out 
of  ten  he  will  begin  to  talk  as  they  talk,  knowing  not 


182  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

that  he  copies  profanity  and  vulgarity  such  as  were  never 
known  in  the  quiet  home  from  which  he  came. 

At  work,  he  finds  men  curt,  harsh,  hurried,  and  in- 
considerate. He  worked  for  wages  before  he  came  to 
America,  but  the  relation  of  employer  and  employee  on 
the  farm  was  very  different  from  the  relation  between  the 
immigrant  and  the  American  boss.  He  will  in  time  get 
accustomed  to  it,  but  never  will  he  understand  why  the 
bluster,  the  continual  drive,  and  the  cursing  are  necessary. 
iWhen  work  is  a  little  slack,  he  is  thrown  out  without  ex- 
planation, or  he  goes  to  work  as  usual  and  finds  the  gate 
closed.  Greater  consideration  was  given  the  wage-earner 
"  at  home  " ;  he  was  not  cut  off  from  his  work  like  this. 
When  he  takes  out  his  pay,  he  finds  that  certain  deductions 
are  made ;  so  much  for  the  doctor,  so  much  for  insurance, 
and  perhaps  so  much  for  the  church.  He  asks  what 
these  are ;  it  may  be  that  his  friends  will  be  able  to  inform 
him,  and  perchance  none  of  them  knows.  He  was  never 
told  of  them,  he  was  never  consulted,  he  may  have  been 
handed  a  sheet  which  explained  these  deductions  in 
English,  but  that  might  as  well  have  been  put  into  the 
hand  of  a  baby.  How  many  Americans  think  of  these 
things  ? 

This  foreigner  walks  the  street  —  surprises  never 
cease.  He  sees  wealth  displayed  in  windows  such  as  he 
never  saw  before,  and  wonders  what  kind  of  people  use 
these  articles.  Among  his  companions  he  finds  a  state 
of  mind  very  different  from  anything  he  met  in  the 
Old  World  —  different  towards  authority,  personal  rela- 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  183 

tions,  and  womanhood.  Some  talk  as  if  there  were  no 
law  in  the  land ;  that  the  courtesies  of  man  to  man  cannot 
be  exercised  in  America ;  that  the  relation  of  the  sexes 
is  most  free.  The  common  sense  of  well-balanced  men 
will  cure  the  foreigner  of  these  silly  notions,  but  hundreds 
of  men  are  led  astray  and  only  brought  to  their  senses  by 
the  stern  hand  of  the  law.  A  young  Italian  on  the  thresh- 
old of  manhood  is  now  in  a  reformatory  because  of  this 
very  reason.  He  worked  in  a  shop  where  his  fellow  workers 
said  that  the  girls  in  America  were  all  free ;  all  he  had 
to  do  was  to  show  some  money  and  the  girl  was  his. 
He  followed  the  teaching  literally,  insulted  two  respect- 
able young  women,  and  is  to-day  learning  what  law  is,  and 
how  America  honors  its  womanhood.  When  a  group  of 
foreign-speaking  men  moved  into  a  "  dry  "  state,  they 
knew  nothing  of  the  laws  regulating  the  sale  and  the 
keeping  of  intoxicants  in  the  home.  They  had  some 
"  wet  "  goods  with  them,  and  no  sooner  were  they  settled 
in  the  state  than  a  constable  raided  the  place,  and  the 
town's  treasury  was  richer  by  more  than  a  hundred 
dollars.  If  we  meditate  on  these  things,  we  shall  find 
some  way  to  help  our  foreign-born  brother. 

2.  Men  Who  Can  Counsel.  The  number  of  men  on 
the  board  is  not  as  important  as  the  quality.  They 
should  be  men  of  character  and  judgment,  sympathetic 
with  the  foreign-born,  and  willing  to  listen  to  his  story 
and  to  serve  him  in  every  possible  way.  In  every  foreign- 
speaking  community  the  chief  of  the  police  or  the  sergeant 
in  charge  of  the  district,  the  justice  of  the  peace  and  the 


184  THE   PROBLEM    OF  AMERICANIZATION 

constable,  know  more  about  the  difficulties  and  trials  of 
the  immigrants  than  any  one  else.  The  Americanization 
promoter  should  consult  these  men  about  the  short- 
comings, the  crimes,  the  exploitation  of  the  foreign- 
speaking.  It  is  the  consensus  of  opinion  among  these 
men  that  the  crimes  and  failings  of  the  foreigners  are  due 
to  their  ignorance  more  than  to  criminal  tendencies.  If 
men  who  know  the  crimes  committed  by  the  foreign-born 
are  found,  they  are  the  best  persons  to  serve  on  the 
board.  The  difficulty  is,  however,  to  find  the  right  man, 
free  from  political  attachments,  and  so  well  thought  of 
among  the  foreigners  that  they  will  come  to  him  as  to  a 
friend. 

The  foreigner  fears  the  police  authority  and  govern- 
ment officials  in  general.  It  is  the  heritage  they  bring 
with  them  from  the  Old  World,  and  is  due  to  the  mailed 
fist  of  authority  exercised  upon  the  people  for  hundreds 
of  years.  This  fear  is  in  the  blood  and  they  find  it  difficult 
to  overcome.  In  America  they  have  the  same  fear  of  the 
man  in  official  garb,  and  when  he  visits  their  home  or  calls 
upon  them  at  the  works,  they  tremble  with  excitement. 
For  this  reason,  it  is  advisable  not  to  ask  the  chief  of 
police  to  serve  on  the  board.  It  is  very  important,  how- 
ever, to  appoint  a  man  versed  in  the  working  of  a  munic- 
ipality, one  who  knows  the  foreigner  and  the  mistakes 
he  makes  in  civic  relations.  Such  a  man  would  be 
helpful  not  only  in  counseling  the  foreigner,  but  also  in 
giving  valuable  suggestions  for  lectures  bearing  upon 
civic  duties ;  if  he  would  not  deliver  a  talk  on  this  subject 


ADVISORY   COUNCILS  185 

himself  he  would  at  least  be  able  to  direct  the  worker  to 
the  right  person.  "  Prevention  is  better  than  cure,"  and 
such  a  lecture  would  aid  the  foreign-born  to  avoid  many 
pitfalls  in  the  intricate  life  of  a  modern  city. 

A  man  versed  also  in  the  industries  and  in  the  laws 
regulating  compensation  for  injuries  would  be  of  great 
service  on  the  Advisory  Council.  Employers  of  labor 
know  these  regulations,  and  sometimes  they  take  advan- 
tage of  the  foreigner's  ignorance.  I  have  found  most 
employers  of  labor  just  and  honorable ;  they  sympathize 
with  the  foreign-born  and  would  not  think  of  taking 
advantage  of  him.  All  employers,  however,  are  not  so. 
Some  treat  the  foreign-speaking  as  they  would  not  dare 
to  treat  their  English-speaking  employees.  They  have  no 
conscientious  scruples  if  they  can  safely  defraud  foreigners 
and  their  dependents  of  their  due.  The  English-speaking 
generally  know  their  rights,  but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  thou- 
sands of  foreign-speaking  men  do  not.  This  is  due  partly 
to  their  ignorance  of  English  and  partly  to  the  frequent 
migration  of  foreign-born  workers.  If  a  Russian  learns 
what  the  Industrial  Compensation  act  is  in  Pennsylvania 
and  moves  to  Michigan,  he  may  imagine  that  the  laws  are 
the  same  in  both  states  and  fail  to  secure  protection  because 
of  varying  provisions.  The  member  of  the  Council  con- 
versant with  the  provisions  of  the  Industrial  Compensation 
acts,  as  well  as  with  other  labor  regulations  involving  the 
interests  of  the  wage-earners,  will  be  of  great  value  to 
foreigners.  A  friend  working  on  such  a  Council  wrote 
me :  "  After  six  months'  work,  we  secured  the  Greek  three 


186  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

hundred  dollars."  That  Greek  will  always  remember 
the  service  rendered  him  and  be  disposed  to  think  of 
America  as  the  land  of  the  square  deal. 

Many  foreign-born  peoples  are  also  victims  of  petty 
officers  who  regard  "  foreigners "  as  legitimate  prey. 
They  spread  their  net,  make  a  raid,  catch  many  persons, 
and  exploit  them.  .  They  never  do  this  to  the  English- 
speaking  members  of  the  community,  but  the  "  for- 
eigner, "  — he  has  no  rights  that  should  be  recognized. 
Many  laws  of  the  state  and  ordinances  of  the  city,  if 
literally  enforced,  would  make  the  major  part  of  the 
dwellers  very  uncomfortable  and  policemen  unpopular. 
Fortunately,  the  officers  are  not  on  every  corner  watching 
for  victims, — that  is,  of  the  English-speaking  kind.  This, 
however,  is  too  often  the  way  in  the  case  of  the  foreigner. 
Petty  officers  with  little  to  do  sometimes  pounce  on  a  group 
of  foreign-speaking  young  men  having  a  good  time  and 
injuring  no  one.  We  all  believe  in  law  and  order,  but 
when  the  "  foreigner  "  is  singled  out  as  an  easy  mark  for 
the  enforcement  of  an  obsolete  law  that  impertinent 
officers  may  have  some  excuse  for  their  existence,  it  is 
bad  practice  from  both  the  government  and  the  com- 
munity viewpoint.  These  victims  of  official  greed  de- 
serve the  protection  of  the  Advisory  Council. 

There  is  also  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  many  com- 
munities to  lay  all  crime  and  disorder  at  the  door  of  the 
"  foreigners."  They  are  guilty  of  crimes  and  mis- 
demeanors just  the  same  as  other  people,  but  it  is  a 
mistake  to  think  that  the  foreign-born  adult  is  more 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  187 

criminal  than  his  native-born  neighbor.  This  opinion, 
though  not  based  on  fact,  works  mischief  to  the  foreign- 
born.  A  petty  officer  will  club  a  foreigner,  throw  him 
into  prison,  let  him  "  rot  "  there,  and  when  brought  to 
court  the  man  is  dismissed  for  lack  of  evidence.  No 
one  sympathizes  with  the  victim  —  he  is  a  foreigner  and 
the  public  conscience  puts  his  suffering  down  to  vicarious 
sacrifice  for  sins  of  foreigners  who  have  escaped  punish- 
ment. This  is  largely  the  reason  why  foreign-speaking 
groups  combine  to  defeat  the  course  of  justice ;  they 
believe  that  the  government  is  against  them,  and  they 
retaliate  by  hiding  the  criminal.  The  one  remedy  is  to 
dispense  impartial  justice  to  the  foreigner,  to  see  that 
in  the  courthouse  he  is  justly  treated,  to  see  that  capable 
and  conscientious  interpreters  are  employed,  to  protect 
him  against  unnecessary  incarceration,  and  to  see  that 
trial  is  given  him  without  excessive  charges.  If  this  is 
done,  the  foreigners  will  respect  the  law,  will  aid  the 
course  of  justice,  and  will  regard  the  land  of  their  adop- 
tion as  the  country  of  just  treatment  of  immigrants. 
This  is  work  the  Advisory  Council  should  be  prepared  to 
perform. 

A  great  many  foreigners  get  into  trouble  among  them- 
selves ;  sometimes  their  quarrels  are  fanned  by  men  who 
look  for  something  to  do.  A  man  is  thrown  into  prison, 
his  friends  are  approached,  or  his  money  in  the  bank  is 
taken,  and  the  promise  made,  "We  put  you  on  the  street." 
The  man's  money  is  soon  gone,  but  the  prison  door  is  not 
opened.  When  the  last  cent  is  squeezed  out  of  him,  as 


188  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

/ 

well  as  out  of  his  friends  and  relatives,  then  something 
may  be  done.  The  victim  knows  nothing  of  the  process 
of  justice.  The  grand  jury  may  ignore  the  case  and  the 
prisoner  is  free.  The  sinister  lawyer  takes  the  man  out, 
claims  credit  for  his  release,  and  if  he  cannot  obtain  cash, 
he  enters  a  claim  against  his  wages.  These  unprincipled 
men  who  torment  their  victims,  and,  by  cunning  and  un- 
righteous practices,  squeeze  out  of  them  and  their  friends 
the  last  penny,  are  the  ones  the  Advisory  Council  should 
go  after  and  drive  out  of  business.  Against  these  villains 
we  should  wage  righteous  warfare,  and  let  the  foreigners 
know  that  they  have  American  friends  to  defend  the  weak 
and  champion  the  cause  of  the  man  who  does  not  know. 

During  war  days  thousands  of  foreign-born  men  found 
friends  who  answered  questions  and  filled  in  draft  papers 
given  them  by  the  government.  The  memories  of  kind 
words  and  deeds  by  sympathetic  men  still  live  in  the 
hearts  of  these  men.  They  were  services  the  foreigners 
appreciated  and  were  grateful  for,  since  they  of  all  men 
called  to  serve  the  country  were  most  helpless.  This  was 
special  service  rendered  on  a  special  occasion,  but  it 
would  surprise  most  of  us  if  we  knew  how  often  foreigners 
in  times  of  peace  want  help  to  fill  in  papers,  or  to  comply 
with  certain  forms  perplexing  to  them.  Many  make 
mistakes  when  acquiring  property  which  might  have  been 
avoided  if  a  friend  who  knew  had  advised  them.  The 
scandal  of  land  sales  to  the  foreign-born  is  well  known ; 
so  are  also  the  bogus  stocks  sold  to  these  people.  No 
section  of  the  community  is  subjected  to  more  villainous 


ADVISORY   COUNCILS  189 

schemes  promising  much  and  performing  little  or  nothing. 
Cunning  men  are  after  the  foreigner's  hard-earned  cash, 
and  they  succeed  in  obtaining  much  of  it.  The  government 
gives  him  protection,  but  the  veil  of  a  foreign  tongue 
makes  it  more  difficult  to  catch  the  schemer.  A  council 
such  as  we  have  in  mind  will  do  much  to  safeguard  the 
innocent  and  the  gullible  from  such  schemes.  The 
foreign-born  wants  a  friend  —  sympathetic,  judicious, 
and  versed  in  the  matter  in  hand  —  and  the  suspicion 
of  the  foreigner  will  soon  disappear,  and  the  heart  of 
America  —  that  is,  the  best  spirit  of  the  land  —  will  win 
them  into  more  sympathetic  understanding  of  our  country. 
3.  Safeguards.  An  Advisory  Council  such  as  we  have 
suggested  will  not  be  able  to  do  good  work  unless  the 
members  cooperate  with  representatives  from  among 
the  foreign-speaking  peoples.  Indeed,  the  members  of 
the  Council  may  not  be  able  to  talk  to  the  men  who 
come  to  them  for  counsel,  and  reliable  interpreters  must 
be  called  upon  to  aid.  This  means  cooperation  with  the 
foreign-speaking.  Among  the  several  peoples  of  foreign 
speech  in  every  community  there  aie  public-spirited  and 
reliable  men  interested  in  their  fellow  countrymen,  who 
are  anxious  to  see  justice  done  them ;  these  men  will 
gladly  cooperate  with  the  board,  and  some  of  them 
ought  to  be  members  of  it.  In  every  industrial  plant 
employers  seek  out  such  men ;  it  will  be  the  duty  of  the 
Americanization  workers  to  find  persons  of  this  kind  and 
put  them  on  the  Advisory  Council  or  obtain  their  coopera- 
tion when  necessary. 


190  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

Care  should  be  taken  to  make  it  perfectly  clear  to  the 
priests  of  the  several  peoples  that  the  purpose  of  the 
Council  is  not  in  any  way  to  interfere  with  or  disturb 
his  relation  to  the  people  of  his  parish.  Priests  do  much 
of  the  work  we  have  outlined ;  they  are  not  only  the 
spiritual  advisors  of  the  people,  but  serve  their  parishioners 
in  a  great  many  other  ways.  No  attempt  should  be  made 
to  interfere  with  the  relationship  between  priest  and  people. 
The  fact,  however,  that  so  many  foreign-born  men  are 
cheated  and  imposed  upon  is  proof  that  all  immigrants 
do  not  have  priests  to  go  to,  or  they  fail  to  get  the  relief 
they  need.  Many  priests  in  foreign-speaking  parishes 
are  influential  enough  to  command  attention  when  they 
champion  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  but  in  thousands 
of  cases,  for  various  reasons,  they  are  not  able  to  do  this. 
Many  men  in  difficulties  have  no  one  in  whom  to  confide, 
and  their  sufferings  will  be  great  unless  some  sympathetic 
friend  champions  their  cause.  There  are  foreign-speaking 
settlements  in  the  United  States  numbering  thousands 
which  have  neither  church  nor  priest.  In  some  parishes 
the  number  of  communicants  is  so  large  that  the  spiritual 
leaders  have  no  time  for  anything  save  ministering  in 
spiritual  affairs.  Broad-minded  business  men  know  the 
world  and  the  business  of  life,  and  their  council  is  wel- 
comed in  every  city  where  foreigners  live.  If  the  pur- 
pose and  functions  of  the  Council  are  defined,  it  will 
be  welcomed  by  most  priests. 

The  Advisory  Council  can  best  serve  the  foreign- 
speaking  by  being  a  part  of  the  Community  American- 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  191 

ization  Committee.  It  should  be  closely  linked  with 
the  work  done  in  classes,  lectures,  and  entertainments. 
The  teachers  and  lecturers,  coming  into  personal  contact 
with  the  men,  will  soon  gain  the  confidence  of  the  foreign- 
born.  They  will  learn  of  men  in  difficulty,  of  those 
anxious  to  transact  some  business,  to  buy  a  piece  of  prop- 
erty, to  build  a  house,  and  of  men  with  other  needs.  The 
workers  may  learn  indirectly  of  foreigners  in  trouble,  or 
injured,  or  intimidated  —  whatever  the  case  may.be,  they 
may  suggest  to  the  men  themselves  or  to  their  friends  that 
the  Council  will  help  them,  or  they  may  ask  one  of  its 
members  to  look  into  the  case.  The  Americanization 
worker  will  make  it  a  part  of  his  duty  to  make  known 
in  classes  and  meetings  the  purpose  of  the  Council  and 
to  show  that  its  services  are  free  to  any  one  who  cares  to 
use  it.  Teachers  when  they  are  well  known  become  the 
friends  and  counselors  of  the  foreigners.  There  are  many 
questions  asked  by  the  foreigners  which  the  teachers  cannot 
answer  and  which  they  turn  over  to  the  Council.  In  a 
city  where  a  thousand  foreign-speaking  people  are  in 
classes  either  learning  English  or  civics,  if  the  right 
relation  exists  between  teachers  and  pupils,  many  singular 
and  perplexing  cases  arise  which  demand  the  services  of 
the  wisest  and  most  skillful  advisors. 

The  service  of  the  Board  of  Advisors  should  also  be 
advertised  in  the  social  gatherings  of  foreign-speaking 
persons.  In  the  classroom,  we  meet  the  men  by  the  hun- 
dred ;  in  the  social  gatherings  and  entertainments  we  meet 
them  by  the  thousand.  In  first-class  cities,  in  one  summer, 


192  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

half  a  million  persons  attended  outdoor  lectures.  The  func- 
tions of  the  Council  should  be  explained  in  these  lectures  ; 
concrete  cases  of  helpfulness  stated ;  and  it  would  do  no 
harm  to  expose  the  various  schemes  laid  to  secure  the 
people's  money.  Of  course,  the  parasites  will  disparage 
this  service ;  they  will  ridicule  the  work,  and  will  discredit 
the  members,  for  the  success  of  the  Council  means  that 
their  hope  of  gain  is  gone.  With  the  good  will  of  the 
leaders,  however,  the  men  will  turn  their  faces  to  the 
place  where  they  may  find  justice  and  truth,  and  the 
Council  will  become  a  power  for  righteousness  in  a  com- 
munity of  foreign-born  men. 

The  Advisory  Council  can  also  help  the  foreign-born 
in  the  courts.  They  do  not  always  obtain  justice  be- 
cause judges  cannot  communicate  with  them  directly  — 
they  must  depend  on  interpreters,  and  many  of  these  are 
inefficient  and  untrustworthy.  The  difficulty  of  securing 
interpreters  in  a  town  like  Jersey  City,  where  foreigners 
use  more  than  thirty  different  languages  or  dialects,  is 
great.  A  man  may,  in  ordinary  conversation,  be  able 
to  understand  six  or  seven  Slavic  dialects,  but  be  a  poor 
interpreter  in  most  of  these.  On  investigation  it  has 
again  and  again  been  discovered  that  the  court  interpreter 
was  incapable.  It  may  be  difficult  to  secure  capable  and 
accurate  interpreters,  but  an  honest  effort  should  be  made 
to  do  so.  The  Advisory  Council  may  assist  the  court  in 
this.  No  conscientious  judge  is  indifferent  to  the  course  of 
justice.  It  is  his  pleasure  to  get  the  facts  in  every  case 
and  see  that  justice  is  done  the  person  under  charge. 


ADVISORY   COUNCILS  193 

This  is  often  defeated  by  the  custom  of  hiring  a  Slav  to 
interpret  for  all  Slavs.  A  Serb  is  a  Slav,  and  so  is  a 
Pole.  If  the  court  interpreter  is  a  Pole,  and  the  criminal 
is  a  Serb,  the  ability  of  the  Pole,  though  he  be  an  honest 
man,  to  interpret  aright  is  open  to  grave  suspicion.  We 
have  many  peoples  from  the  Balkans,  and  it  is  not  unusual 
to  meet  a  man  who  can  converse  in  Greek,  Bulgarian, 
Turkish,  and  Rumanian.  He  can  serve  as  an  interpreter 
in  an  industrial  plant  and  get  along  very  well ;  but  when 
it  comes  to  a  court  of  justice,  he  may  be  wholly  unfit  to 
act  in  this  capacity.  Let  the  Council  aid  in  procuring 
intelligent,  capable,  and  conscientious  interpreters. 

When  public-spirited  men  interest  themselves  in  the 
foreign-born  and  see  that  they  get  a  square  deal  in  court, 
the  general  attitude  of  court  officials  will  change,  and  the 
prejudice  against  the  foreign-born,  so  general  among  the 
English-speaking,  will  be  abated.  The  judge  in  a  court 
may  be  sympathetic  with  the  foreign-born,  but  if  the 
jury  and  the  attorneys  are  prejudiced,  if  the  witnesses 
and  the  police  are  biased,  the  man  before  the  court  will 
seldom  get  a  fair  trial.  The  advisors  can  do  much  to 
counteract  this  prejudice  by  personal  as  well  as  by 
public  service.  To  combat  race  prejudice  and  promote 
race  appreciation  is  as  necessary  as  to  assimilate  the 
foreign-born.  The  Council  can  do  much  to  give  their 
foreign-born  neighbors  a  standing  in  the  community  and 
the  court,  and  justice  will  not  be  done  immigrants  until 
they  are  treated  by  the  same  ethical  code  as  the  English- 
speaking  people. 


194  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

4.  The  Council  in  Action.  In  cities  having  half  a 
million  or  more  population,  one  Advisory  Council  for  the 
whole  city  is  not  practicable.  A  city  that  has  a  hundred 
thousand  population,  twenty  thousand  of  whom  are 
foreign-born,  will  furnish  cases  enough  to  keep  the  Council 
active,  providing  the  Americanization  work  is  well  or- 
ganized. In  cities  of  half  a  million  or  more,  there  should 
be  as  many  Advisory  Councils  as  there  are  units  of 
Americanization  work.  If  the  "  North  End  "  has  its 
Board  of  Trade,  and  the  "  South  Side  "  has  its  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  so  also  should  each  foreign  section  have  its 
Americanization  Committee  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  to 
the  assimilation  of  the  foreigners  in  that  part  of  the  city. 

In  Pittsburgh,  the  South  Side  has  its  thousands  of 
Serbs,  Poles,  Ukrainians,  and  other  nationalities,  and 
should  have  its  South  Side  Americanization  Committee 
and  its  sub-committee  on  counseling.  In  the  Soho 
District  an  equal  number  of  foreign-born  Slovenes, 
Russians,  and  other  peoples  are  found,  who  have  needs 
just  as  great  as  those  of  the  South  Side ;  these  can  only 
be  met  by  a  distinct  organization  for  this  part  of  the  city. 
The  hill  district  and  Allegheny  have  their  foreign  prob- 
lems, which  must  be  met  by  distinct  organizations,  if 
the  work  of  Americanization  is  to  prove  effective.  But 
in  addition  to  the  sectional  organizations,  there  should 
be  a  Central  Americanization  Committee  on  which 
representatives  of  each  local  committee  are  found. 

This  plan  of  organization  must  be  installed  in  first-class 
cities  before  the  work  of  Americanization  can  adequately 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  195 

meet  the  need  of  its  cosmopolitan  population.  In  this 
connection,  I  have  specially  in  mind  Advisory  Councils, 
and  the  point  I  wish  to  emphasize  is  that  one  general 
committee  will  not  be  able  to  do  the  work  in  a  large  city ; 
sub-councils  must  be  organized,  having  representatives 
on  the  Central  Advisory  Council,  so  that  the  remotest 
unit  in  the  general  plan  may  be  stimulated  and  directed 
just  as  the  central  political  committee  stimulates  and 
directs  the  ward  committee. 

When  a  common  organization  in  defense  of  the  foreigner 
covers  the  need  of  a  city,  it  is  surprising  how  the  weakest 
member  derives  strength  from  the  whole.  In  a  New 
England  city,  a  member  of  an  Advisory  Council  late 
one  evening  was  walking  along  the  principal  street  when" 
he  saw  a  foreigner  abused  by  a  petty  official.  The 
immigrant  went  on  his  way,  entered  a  store,  and  soon 
came  out  again.  He  stood  on  the  sidewalk  and  looked  up 
and  down  the  street.  The  officer  again  came  up  to  him, 
struck  him  with  his  club,  and  took  him  to  the  police 
station,  where  he  spent  the  night.  The  American  who 
witnessed  this  was  angered  and  wondered  whether  or 
not  he  was  in  the  United  States.  The  following  morning 
he  appeared  in  court  where  the  man  was  charged  with 
resisting  arrest  and  malicious  mischief.  The  case  was 
closed  in  a  few  minutes.  The  judge  took  the  word  of 
the  policeman  and  did  not  think  it  worth  while  to  examine 
the  foreigner.  The  American  could  hardly  believe  that 
the  case  was  closed  until  the  clerk  told  him  so.  The 
foreigner  disappeared  —  taken  to  prison  to  serve  his 


196  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

sentence.  The  native-born  asked  that  the  case  be 
re-opened,  stating  that  he  was  a  witness  and  demanded 
to  be  heard.  He  was  only  laughed  at.  He  immediately 
took  the  matter  up  with  the  most  influential  members 
of  the  Advisory  Council,  and  that  afternoon  the  case 
was  re-opened ;  the  man  gave  his  testimony,  and  the 
foreigner  was  discharged.  The  service  cost  the  man 
a  day's  work,  but  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  serving  the 
cause  of  justice,  and  made  a  lifelong  friend  of  the  foreigner. 

There  are  many  foreign-born  discharged  soldiers  whom 
the  Advisory  Councils  can  help.  In  every  town  some  of 
them  believe  that  they  were  not  justly  treated  by  the 
government.  They  have  grievances  and  they  cannot 
understand  why  their  cases  are  not  attended  to  and  why 
they  should  suffer.  No  one  has  explained  to  them  the 
stupendous  task  Uncle  Sam  undertook  when  he  promised 
the  half  million  boys  of  foreign  parentage  in  the  army, 
insurance,  naturalization,  and  a  guarantee  that  every 
man  would  be  discharged  in  as  good  physical  condition 
as  when  he  entered  the  army.  Human  limitations  come 
in  and  the  most  perfect  machine  is  imperfectly  operated. 
If  the  Advisory  Councils  in  every  foreign  colony  in  the 
land  apply  themselves  to  the  cases  of  disappointed  ex- 
soldiers  of  foreign  birth,  they  will  render  a  splendid 
service  to  the  men  and  to  the  country. 

Nick  was  a  Greek  boy  and  in  France  had  served  faith- 
fully in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  He  was  one  of  the 
many  gassed  and  had  suffered  much.  After  some  months' 
treatment,  he  was  discharged  from  the  army  as  cured. 


ADVISORY   COUNCILS  197 

Within  a  month  the  old  trouble  returned  and,  anxious 
to  get  well,  he  went  to  a  Greek  doctor.  He  was  treated 
just  as  long  as  his  money  lasted,  which  was  not  long  — • 
the  doctor  charging  ten  dollars  a  day  for  treatment. 
Without  money  and  having  nowhere  to  go,  the  young  man 
came  to  a  good  Dutch  friend  and  told  him  his  trouble. 
The  Americanization  director  said :  "  You  must  go  to 
the  hospital."  He  tried  to  get  him  into  one  and  failed. 
He,  however,  had  a  friend,  Dr.  Sullivan,  to  whose  attention 
he  brought  the  case,  and  within  an  hour  Nick  was  in 
a  hospital.  The  Americanization  worker  then  brought 
the  case  before  some  members  of  the  Advisory  Council, 
one  of  whom  was  a  Greek  attorney.  This  gentleman  told 
the  other  members  that  he  would  handle  the  case.  He 
went  to  the  Greek  doctor  and  told  him :  "  You  treated 
Nick,  the  soldier  boy.  I  give  you  twenty-four  hours  to 
return  every  dollar  you  took  from  him,  or  get  out  of  town." 
He  returned  the  money.  Other  members  of  the  Council 
got  in  touch  with  Washington  and  Nick's  name  was 
re-entered  on  the  Army  pay-roll.  Nick  is  well,  and  his 
heart  is  thoroughly  American. 

It  would  be  a  splendid  thing  to  have  a  women's  Advisory 
Council,  for  women  of  foreign  birth  get  into  trouble  just 
as  men  do,  though  not  so  often.  There  are  many  un- 
desirable practices  in  foreign-speaking  homes  which  can 
only  be  amended  by  the  kind  and  judicious  counsel  of 
women.  The  splendid  work  done  by  the  women  em- 
ployed in  Americanization  work  in  the  International 
Institute  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  is  worthy  of  study  and 


198  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

commendation.  These  women  go  from  house  to  house 
wherever  there  is  need,  and  bring  help  to  many  mothers 
who  are  ill  and  weary  because  of  the  heavy  load  they 
carry.  During  the  epidemic  of  influenza,  these  workers 
as  well  as  volunteer  women  workers  did  exceptional  work 
in  bringing  relief  to  many  smitten  families. 

In  a  city  in  the  middle  west,  a  foreign-speaking  mother 
died,  leaving  four  little  children  to  the  care  of  the  father, 
the  eldest  of  whom  was  only  twelve  years  of  age.  The 
father  could  do  nothing  save  put  that  little  girl  in  charge 
of  the  home  and  the  three  younger  children.  We  can 
well  imagine  what  kind  of  home  it  became  in  a  short 
while.  The  father  was  very  worried  and  he  knew  not 
what  to  do.  An  Americanization  worker  by  chance 
learned  the  facts,  brought  it  to  the  attention  of  the  wife 
of  one  of  the  Advisory  Council,  who  went  to  the  house, 
and  within  twenty-four  hours  the  little  ones  were  inmates 
of  the  St.  Joseph  Home,  and  the  father  had  the  first  good 
night's  rest  in  many  weeks. 

One  of  the  evils  in  the  foreign-speaking  home  is  the  visit 
of  the  mid-wife.  This  institution,  imported  to  America 
by  the  foreign-born  mother  from  the  Old  World,  accounts 
for  many  deaths  among  the  children  born  of  foreign 
mothers.  It  cannot  be  cured  by  law ;  it  can  be  removed 
if  an  active  Advisory  Council  of  intelligent  and  sym- 
pathetic women  undertake  the  task.  One  of  the  saddest 
cases  I  have  ever  known  was  of  a  mother  brought  nigh  unto 
death  by  one  of  these  ignorant  and  brutal  practitioners. 
She  was  only  saved  by  the  prompt  action  of  an  American- 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  199 

ization  worker  intimate  with  the  family,  who  without 
the  consent  of  any  member  summoned  a  doctor  and 
saved  a  mother's  life,  for  she  knew  that  the  well-being 
of  six  children  depended  on  her  being  near  them. 

Foreign-born  husbands  and  wives  do  not  always  agree, 
although  divorce  is  rarely  found  among  these  people. 
I  remember  an  Americanization  director  who  had  on 
hand  a  case  of  threatened  divorce.  The  husband  begged 
his  help  to  keep  his  wife  and  mother  in  that  home.  He 
set  to  work  and  with  the  help  of  the  wisest  member  of  the 
Council  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  storm  cloud 
hanging  over  that  house  pass  away.  He  still  speaks  of 
this  case  with  satisfaction,  and  well  he  may. 

The  hearts  of  many  native-born  parents  are  rent 
because  of  wayward  children,  but  we  are  safe  in  saying 
that  more  hearts  of  foreign-born  parents  are  rent  by  this 
cause.  The  Advisory  Council  could  render  splendid 
service  by  advising  parents  who  do  not  know  how  to  deal 
with  boys  growing  in  the  free  atmosphere  of  America. 
I  know  an  Italian  boy  to  whom  has  come  the  vision  of 
what  American  institutions  can  do  for  him,  but  his  father 
says  he  is  dreaming  and  must  go  to  work.  The  parent 
wants  Pietro  to  help  him  to  maintain  the  family.  The 
son  wants  education,  and  has  made  up  his  mind  to  enter 
college.  An  Americanization  secretary  went  to  the 
father,  but  could  not  persuade  him  to  give  the  young 
man  the  freedom  he  desired.  In  the  summer,  the  son 
ran  away  from  home,  and  in  the  fall  returned  with  two 
hundred  dollars  —  he  had  gone  to  a  summer  resort  and 


200  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

sold  ice  cream  cones.  One  of  the  Advisory  Council 
secured  the  father's  consent  to  let  the  son  go  to  school. 
He  is  on  his  way  to  college  and  will  improve  the  oppor- 
tunities America  offers  to  every  boy,  be  he  foreign-  or 
native-born. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  agency  that  will  bind  hands  and 
hearts  across  the  seas  as  the  members  of  Advisory  Coun- 
cils, if  they  are  found  in  every  city  where  Americanization 
work  ought  to  be  done.  Every  foreign-born  person 
helped  in  difficulty  becomes  an  interpreter  of  the  best 
that  is  in  the  American  heart.  He  and  those  tied  to 
him  by  kinship  or  friendship  promulgate  good  will  and 
sympathy  between  his  people  and  America.  Even  in 
many  cases  where  the  foreigners  to  whom  kindness  has 
been  shown  ultimately  return  to  their  original  homes  — 
cases  which,  therefore,  must  be  viewed  as  mere  philan- 
thropy rather  than  as  Americanization  —  the  ultimate 
benefits  to  our  own  country  are  undeniable.  The  United 
States  enters  more  and  more  into  relations  with  the 
nations  of  the  world,  and  the  more  good-will  is  established 
between  us  and  the  peoples  of  foreign  lands,  the  better 
for  both  parties  concerned.  If  the  members  of  Advisory 
Councils  keep  this  in  mind,  the  stream  of  immigrants 
returning  to  Europe  and  other  countries  will  have  among 
them  many  who  will  speak  kindly  of  America  because 
of  the  services  rendered  them  or  their  friends  by  the  men 
and  women  who  are  members  of  Advisory  Councils.  All 
workers  of  Americanization  should  have  the  world  view- 
point, and  think  in  terms  of  international  relationships. 


ADVISORY  COUNCILS  201 

REFERENCES 

THE    SERVIAN    PEOPLE  :  Prince    Lazarovich    Hrebelianovich, 

Vol.  I,  Part  I. 

ESSAYS  IN  SOCIAL  JUSTICE  :  T.  N.  Carver,  Chapter  XVI. 
THE  FIELD  OF  SOCIAL  SERVICE  :  Philip  Davies,  Part  I,  Chapters 

I  and  II. 

AMERICANIZATION  :  Carol  Aronovici. 
JUSTICE  TO  THE  POOR  :   Reginald  Heber  Smith. 
OUT  OF  THE  SHADOW  :   Rose  Cohen. 
AN  AMERICAN  IN  THE  MAKING  :  M.  E.  Ravage. 
THE  MAKING  OF  AN  AMERICAN  :  Jacob  Riis. 
FROM  ALIEN  TO  CITIZEN  :   Edward  A.  Steiner. 


ORGANIZATION 

THE  program  outlined  in  the  preceding  pages  must 
have  a  plan  of  organization  before  it  is  effective ;  the 
purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  describe  plans  that  work. 

In  every  community,  public,  business,  and  philanthropic 
organizations  are  discussing  the  question  of  American- 
ization ;  patriotic  men  and  women  who  are  members  of 
these  organizations  are  anxious  to  do  something,  but  the 
lack  of  coordination,  definiteness,  and  good  planning 
defeat  their  aspirations.  If  the  performances  of  patriots 
in  Americanization  were  equal  to  the  enthusiasm  dis- 
played in  public  gatherings,  the  problem  would  soon  be 
solved.  We  are  in  danger  of  losing  much  of  the  ardor  and 
zeal  of  good  men  and  women  in  city  and  town,  where  the 
need  is  imperative,  for  the  lack  of  organization  to  marshal 
the  available  forces  and  to  put  them  to  work. 

I  know  towns  that  have  discussed  this  work  for  the  last 
five  years.  Words  and  something  to  eat  are  the  extent  of 
their  achievement.  Many  other  towns  have  spent  their 
efforts  on  a  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  or  a  pageant,  or 
the  distribution  of  some  literature.  These  types  of 
activity  are  commendable,  but  not  comprehensive  enough. 
Before  the  work  of  Americanization  is  done,  some  one 

202 


ORGANIZATION  203 

must  be  specially  assigned  to  the  task  of  promotion,  a 
definite  plan  of  action  must  be  outlined,  the  forces  of  the 
community  must  cooperate,  and  both  paid  and  volunteer 
workers  must  join  hands  to  do  intensive  work  as  well  as 
hold  public  meetings. 

1.  Employed  and  Volunteer  Workers.  In  a  previous 
chapter  we  stated  what  an  Americanization  worker  or 
promoter  should  know  in  order  to  do  this  work.  He  must 
be  a  trained  man,  but,  in  addition  to  all  that  he  knows  or 
may  learn  about  the  immigrants  and  their  ways,  he  must 
possess  a  broad  sympathy  for  humanity.  He  must  have 
boundless  faith  and  must  believe  firmly  that  out  of  the  un- 
likely raw  material  pouring  into  this  country  from  abroad 
we  can  raise  sons  and  daughters  of  American  democracy. 

The  need  of  trained  workers  in  this  field  has  become  so 
great  that  many  of  the  leading  universities  have  estab- 
lished courses  of  study  specially  designed  to  train  men  and 
women  for  the  work  of  Americanization.  Courses  in 
summer  schools  are  offered  to  public  school  teachers, 
social  workers,  and  welfare  agents,  so  that  they  may  do 
better  work  for  men,  women,  and  children  of  foreign  par- 
entage. In  addition  to  this  academic  training,  I  would 
send  every  candidate  for  the  position  of  Americanization 
worker  for  three  weeks  or  a  month  to  a  city  where  good 
work  is  being  done  by  a  successful  promoter,  that  he  might 
study  his  methods  and  under  his  supervision  actually  do 
work  with  foreigners.  We  need  schools  in  universities,  but 
we  are  in  greater  need  of  laboratories  where  men  and  women 
may  see  actual  things  done  in  Americanization  work. 


204  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

Governmental  employees,  promoters  employed  by 
business  and  philanthropic  organizations,  and  volunteer 
workers  are  needed.  It  is  unfortunate  that  Congress 
has  not  seen  fit  to  appropriate  money  to  have  an  American- 
ization director  on  the  staff  of  the  Educational  Bureau. 
Such  a  director  could  promote  a  program  in  every  state 
in  the  Union  where  foreign-speaking  peoples  are  living  in 
large  numbers.  Dr.  H.  H.  Wheaton,  supported  by  private 
funds,  did  this  work  for  a  season,  and  his  labors  were 
appreciated  by  all  educators  familiar  with  the  problem  of 
Americanization. 

^  In  addition  to  the  national  director,  there  ought  to 
be  an  Americanization  director  placed  on  the  staff  of  the 
educational  department  in  at  least  sixteen  of  the  states 
of  the  Union  In  New  York  State,  W.  C.  Smith  is  doing 
this  work.  He  has  divided  the  state  into  several  regions 
and  has  placed  an  assistant  in  charge  of  each,  and  from 
the  state  viewpoint  a  splendid  piece  of  work  in  American- 
ization is  done  in  the  Empire  State.  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  Pennsylvania,  and  California  have  also 
Americanization  directors  doing  good  work.  Other  states 
have  made  possible  financial  support  for  schools  teaching 
English  and  civics  to  foreigners.  Money  is  needed,  but 
men  even  more.  The  states  face  to  face  with  this  problem 
need  a  state  Americanization  director  to  stimulate  public 
schools,  settlement  houses,  chambers  of  commerce,  and 
philanthropic  organizations. 

Also,  cities  having  ten  thousand  or  more  foreign-born 
people  should  employ  an  Americanization  director  to 


ORGANIZATION  205 

function  with  the  public  schools,  boards  of  health,  police 
departments,  juvenile  courts,  the  wardens  of  the  county 
jails,  the  hospitals,  and  any  other  organizations  that  might 
prove  helpful.  This  director  should  so  plan  his  work 
that  all  the  agencies  in  the  city  interested  in  Amer- 
icanization should  be  brought  together  to  cooperate, 
so  that  the  most  retiring  alien  could  not  escape  their 
activity. 

With  a  force  of  directors  of  this  kind  —  national, 
state,  municipal  —  the  governments  of  nation,  state,  and 
city  would  make  possible  a  comprehensive  work  in 
Americanization.  These  men,  having  their  conferences 
for  discussion  and  standardization  of  programs,  would 
lead  the  forces  of  the  country  in  the  solution  of  one  of  its 
most  perplexing  and  vexatious  problems. 

In  addition  to  these  governmental  employees,  business 
and  philanthropic  organizations  should  have  their  Amer- 
icanization workers.  In  large  cities,  chambers  of  com- 
merce, manufacturers'  associations,  and  city  clubs  could 
do  no  better  service  than  to  underwrite  the  budget  of  a 
man  or  woman  to  do  Americanization  work.  In  a  city 
like  Detroit,  Cleveland,  or  Buffalo,  such  a  worker  could 
do  splendid  work  among  the  foreigners  along  employ- 
ment and  domestic  lines.  Philanthropic  agencies,  such 
as  the  Young  Men's  Hebrew  Association,  the  Knights  of 
Columbus,  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Union,  and  churches  of  all  creeds,  could  also 
put  men  and  women  in  the  field  to  do  Americanization 


206  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

work.  In  cities  like  Bayonne,  Akron,  or  Los  Angeles  there 
is  ample  work  for  all  the  men  and  women  that  secular  and 
religious  interests  may  put  to  work.  Anyone  familiar 
with  the  needs  of  Jersey  City,  Pittsburgh,  or  Chicago 
knows  perfectly  well  that  it  is  impossible  to  put  too 
many  men  and  women  of  the  right  kind  to  work  to  solve 
the  Americanization  problem. 

Governmental  and  private  Americanization  workers 
need  also  the  help  of  volunteer  workers.  The  number 
of  persons  to  a  class  in  English  and  civics,  as  before 
stated,  should  not  be  more  than  fifteen.  Boards  of 
directors  generally  insist  on  the  class  numbering  from 
thirty  to  forty.  If  the  teacher  in  charge  of  thirty  for- 
eigners is  to  do  good  work,  she  must  have  an  assistant, 
and  the  only  way  this  can  be  done  is  by  enlisting  volun- 
teer workers.  In  every  city  members  of  women's  clubs, 
men's  clubs,  literary  societies,  church  brotherhoods, 
ladies'  aid  societies,  sororities,  and  in  fact  those  of  al- 
most any  society,  are  willing  to  aid  if  they  are  appealed 
to  and  shown  how  they  can  best  assist  with  the  work. 

In  order  to  use  this  volunteer  force,  the  paid  Amer- 
icanization director  or  directors  should  organize  a,  normal 
class  for  the  training  and  guiding  of  volunteer  workers. 
This  normal  class,  made  up  entirely  of  teachers  and 
volunteer  workers,  should  meet  at  least  every  other  week. 
When  volunteers  are  sought,  it  should  be  clearly  stated 
what  is  expected  of  them.  If  they  are  to  teach  for  two 
nights  a  week,  let  it  be  clearly  understood  that  the 
work  will  continue  for  three  or  four  months  and  not  inter- 


ORGANIZATION  207 

minably.  If  they  aid  a  group  of  ninety-day  men  or 
women  preparing  for  the  naturalization  examination, 
tell  them  you  do  not  expect  them  to  teach  longer  than 
that.  Volunteer  workers  are  more  willing  to  serve  if 
they  are  put  to  a  definite  task  for  a  limited  time,  than  if 
the  work  has  no  limit.  They  also  prefer  one  job,  the 
one  best  suited  to  their  taste,  better  than  having  to 
perform  half  a  dozen  different  tasks.  Hence,  in  securing 
volunteer  workers,  it  is  well  to  put  the  whole  scope  of 
the  field  before  them,  then  give  each  a  card  with  the 
several  lines  of  activity  classified  and  ask  each  to  mark 
the  work  in  which  he  would  like  to  assist. 

2.  Americanization  Work  in  an  Industry.  Most  of  the 
foreign-speaking  peoples  of  America  are  employed  in  the 
industries.  They  work  from  eight  to  twelve  hours  a  day, 
and  their  boss,  more  than  any  other  individual,  is  the 
personification  of  America  to  them.  Their  leisure  hours 
are  spent  in  the  foreign-speaking  colony  ;  their  associates 
are  men  of  their  own  race ;  their  economic,  social  and 
religious  needs  are  met  by  organizations  manned  by 
men  of  their  own  nationality;  the  only  window  open  to 
them  by  which  they  can  look  into  the  American  world 
is  in  the  plant,  and  at  that  window  stands  the  boss. 
Many  foreign-speaking  women  employed  in  factories  are 
in  the  same  position  exactly ;  they  are,  however,  some- 
what better  off  than  the  foreign-born  women  in  the  home, 
who  see  little  of  what  is  really  American  from  one  year's 
end  to  the  other. 

Because  of  the  importance  of   the   industries   in  the 


208  THE  PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

life  of  the  foreigner,  the  work  of  Americanization  will 
never  be  done  until  the  managerial  forces  and  the  English- 
speaking  workers  in  plants  employing  foreigners  will  give 
their  approval  to  the  program  and  be  willing  to  back  up 
the  work  in  a  very  concrete  way.  If  the  foreigners  in  an 
industrial  plant  are  cursed,  bulldozed,  imposed  upon, 
driven,  unjustly  treated,  and  discriminated  against,  the 
work  of  Americanization  cannot  be  promoted  there.  If 
the  general  manager  and  the  foreman  pooh-pooh  the 
work  of  Americanization  and  make  fun  of  John's 
effort  to  learn  English,  the  work  will  never  nourish. 
From  the  general  manager  down  to  the  English-speaking 
water  boy  there  should  prevail  a  genuine  spirit  of  sym- 
pathy with  the  foreign-born  in  his  effort  to  become  an 
American,  and  every  one,  for  the  sake  of  our  Democracy 
and  of  humanity,  should  be  willing  to  help  him. 

In  order  to  create  this  spirit  in  an  industrial  plant,  the 
Americanization  •  program  should  be  presented  to  all  the 
men  and  a  plan  of  organization  proposed  to  make  possible 
the  Americanization  of  every  alien  in  the  works. 

The  first  step  is  to  approach  the  general  superintendent, 
put  the  program  clearly  before  him,  and  ask  for  his 
indorsement.  If  he  gives  his  approval,  then  ask  for  the 
privilege  of  presenting  the  program  to  the  foremen. 
Lay  the  plans  before  these  men  and  tell  them  how  it 
will  help  them  in  handling  the  foreigners  and  in  bringing 
the  personnel  of  the  plant  in  line  with  national  policy. 
If  they  approve  of  the  work,  let  them  appoint  two  of  their 
best  men,  who  are  well  known  to  the  foreign-born  em- 


ORGANIZATION 


209 


ployees,  to  sit  on  the  Americanization  plant  committee. 
Next,  ask  the  privilege  of  addressing  the  workers  of  the 
plant.  Tell  them  what  you  propose  to  do,  what  the 

CHART  ON  AMERICANIZATION  WORK  IN  INDUSTRIES 


AMERICANIZATION  DIRECTOR 


PRESENTATION 
)F  AMERICANIZATION  PROGRAM" 


To 

To 

General 

To 

Foremen 

Manager 

Workers 

AMERICANIZATION  PLANT  COMMITTEE 


Native  Born  and  Foreign  Born 


Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

on 

on 

on 

on 

Friendly 
Advice 

Lectures  & 
Entertain- 

Naturali- 
zation 

English 
Classes 

on 
Teachers 

Place  of 
Meeting 

on 
Publicity 

New 

Employees 

work  means  to  the  plant,  to  the  community,  and  to  the 
nation.  Dwell  on  the  spirit  of  fair  play,  of  justice,  of 
sympathy  —  all  of  which  are  involved  in  the  success  of 
American  democracy  —  and  ask  for  their  cooperation  to 
make  that  plant  one  hundred  per  cent  American.  If 


210  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

they  indorse  the  program,  ask  two  of  the  men  to  sit  on 
the  Americanization  plant  committee. 

The  second  step  is  to  call  the  four  members  of  the  com- 
mittee together.  Put  before  them  the  importance  of  work- 
ing with  and  not  for  the  foreigner,  and  ask  them  who  are  the 
four  best  men  among  the  foreign-speaking  workers  to  sit 
with  them  as  members  of  the  committee.  The  men  should 
represent  the  several  nationalities  in  the  plant,  they  should 
be  able  to  speak  English,  and  they  should  be  American 
citizens.  When  they  are  chosen,  bring  the  committee  to- 
gether, and  if  possible  persuade  the  manager  to  sit  with  you. 

The  third  step  is  to  have  the  committee  find  out  what 
Americanization  work  is  needed  in  the  plant.  We  want 
to  know  those  who  wish  to  learn  to  speak,  read,  and 
write  the  English  language ;  who  have  their  first  papers  ; 
who  wish  their  first  papers  ;  and  who  are  ready  and  willing 
to  take  out  their  second  papers.  The  employment  cards 
in  the  office  will  possibly  give  you  the  names  of  men  who 
have  no  knowledge  of  English  and  who  are  aliens.  You 
need,  however,  a  card  about  3"  X  4"  as  follows: 


Do  you  speak  English  ?  Do  you  write  English  ? 

Do  you  read  English  ?  Do  you  want  to  learn  English  ? 

Are  you  an  American  Citizen?  Have  you  your  First  Paper? 

Do   you   want   your   Second  Do  you  want  to  become  an 

Paper?  American  Citizen? 

Name :  Department 

Address :  Chairman  of  Committee 


ORGANIZATION  211 

1  These  cards  are  taken  by  the  members  of  the  committee 
and  distributed  among  their  fellow  workers  in  the  depart- 
ments where  the  foreigners  are  found.  When  collected, 
they  are  turned  over  to  the  Americanization  director. 
From  these  data,  he  will  know  exactly  what  work  is  to  be 
done.  Let  him  present  the  facts  to  the  committee  and 
take  up  the  question  of  how  best  to  do  the  work  needed. 

The  fourth  step  is  the  actual  organization  of  work. 
This  means  classes  in  English  and  detailed  work  on 
naturalization.  The  questions  to  be  solved  are:  where 
will  the  classes  meet,  who  will  teach,  what  lessons  will 
be  used,  how  shall  we  organize  —  by  department  or 
nationality.  If  the  plant  works  twenty-four  hours  — 
three  shifts  of  eight  hours  each  —  the  men  will  meet  for 
class  work  either  before  or  after  working  hours.  If  the 
men  work  ten  or  twelve  hours  a  day,  they  must  meet  for 
instruction  in  the  evening.  Employers  who  furnish  a 
room  for  their  employees  to  learn  English  will  also  see  that 
it  is  properly  furnished  for  the  work  —  blackboard,  tables, 
seats,  paper  and  pencils,  and  all  other  necessary  articles. 
If  the  teaching  is  done  in  the  plant,  a  sub-committee 
should  be  appointed  to  decide  on  the  place  or  places 
most  convenient  for  the  men,  in  which  the  classes  can  be 
held.  Some  employers  not  only  give  the  room  for  the 
work,  but  furnish  teachers  to  teach  the  men  on  company 
time ;  others  conduct  the  work  on  a  fifty-fifty  basis  —  the 
men  giving  half  an  hour  and  the  company  giving  the 
same. 

The  question  of  teachers  is  important.    In  some  towns, 


212  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

the  public  school  supplies  men  and  women  to  do  the  work 
in  the  plants  or  any  other  place  in  the  city.  This  imme- 
diately gives  the  industry  a  corps  of  teachers  trained  to  do 
the  work.  If  they  are  employed,  the  system  of  lessons 
used  in  the  public  school  for  this  work  will  be  used  in  the 
industry.  In  most  cities,  the  public  school  is  willing  to 
do  the  work  in  the  school  buildings,  and  asks  the  em- 
ployers to  make  this  known  to  all  men  and  women  needing 
instruction.  Many  have  made  strenuous  efforts  to  do  this, 
but  the  response  has  been  disappointing.  A  large  percent- 
age of  foreigners  will  not  go  to  the  public  schools  —  the 
school  must  be  taken  to  them. 

If  an  industrial  plant  has  a  large  number  of  foreigners, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  enlist  volunteer  teachers  from 
among  the  men  in  the  plant.  This  has  been  done  success- 
fully in  many  places.  One  of  the  best  examples  is  the 
General  Electric  plant  in  Schenectady.  Here  under  the 
leadership  of  an  Americanization  director,  Mr.  A.  L. 
Hahn,  a  splendid  corps  of  teachers  from  among  the  em- 
ployees have  been  trained  to  teach.  If  the  work  is  done 
in  the  plant,  it  is  very  important  that  the  director 
should  come  in  personal  contact  with  the  foreign-speaking 
by  personally  calling  on  them  in  the  place  where  they 
work.  An  accurate  record  of  the  attendance  should  be 
kept  and  a  regular  system  of  follow-up  work  installed. 
We  do  not  believe  in  compulsion,  but  moral  suasion  and 
sympathy  go  a  great  way  in  this  work. 

Naturalization  should  be  followed  up  with  as  much  zeal 
as  English  class  work.  The  director  should  in  conjunction 


ORGANIZATION  213 

x 

with  the  manager  choose  a  room  or  rooms,  according  to 
the  size  of  the  plant,  to  which  all  men  wishing  their  first 
papers  should  come.  He  should  have  on  hand  an  adequate 
supply  of  blank  forms  for  the  declaration  of  intention, 
and  go  over  them  carefully  with  one  or  two  office  men  who 
are  his  assistants  in  this  part  of  the  work.  He  should 
then  make  arrangements  with  the  leaders  in  the  several 
departments  to  send  to  the  room,  at  an  appointed  hour, 
four  men.  He  and  his  assistants  should  fill  in  the  blank 
forms  accurately.  The  process  should  be  repeated  until 
twelve  or  sixteen  men  are  ready  for  the  court  clerk.  Then 
he  should  secure  from  the  clerk  of  the  court  a  stated 
hour  when  the  men  may  make  ,their  declaration  of  in- 
tention to  become  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The 
company  can  show  its  good  will  by  supplying  an  auto 
truck  to  take  the  men  to  and  from  the  courthouse,  and 
allowing  them  to  do  this  during  their  working  hours.  The 
director  or  some  other  responsible  party  should  accompany 
the  men  to  the  courthouse,  and  care  should  be  taken  to 
reach  every  man  desiring  help. 

The  men  who  have  their  first  papers  should  be  inter- 
viewed, their  papers  examined,  and  if  they  may  apply  for 
their  second,  the  director  will  advise  them  how  to  proceed 
and  what  to  do.  When  a  group  of  men  have  petitioned 
for  their  second  papers,  they  should  be  organized  into  a 
class  to  study  for  the  naturalization  examination.  The 
teacher  here  may  be  one  supplied  from  the  public  school, 
or  a  member  of  the  legal  department  of  the  plant,  or  one 
trained  by  the  director  to  do  the  work. 


214  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

In  many  industries  the  foreigners  live  so  far  from 
the  plant  that  it  is  not  feasible  for  them  to  take  lessons 
there.  In  some  instances  the  men  work  in  one  state 
and  live  in  another.  In  these  cases  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  help  the  foreign-speaking  in  English  and  natural- 
ization. If  the  men  work  for  long  hours,  the  help  given 
them  must  be  given  in  the  community.  For  these  and 
other  reasons  it  is  necessary  to  organize  a  community 
Americanization  committee  if  the  men  and  women  are  to 
be  served  in  an  adequate  way. 

3.  Community  Americanization  Committee.  The  pub- 
lic school  in  every  community  is  the  agency  of  public  in- 
struction, and  it  should  be  alive  to  every  educational 
need  of  the  population  supporting  it.  The  interest  shown 
by  educators  in  the  educational  need  of  the  immigrant  is  of 
comparatively  recent  date,  and  is  not  to-day  commen- 
surate with  the  demand.  State  authorities  are  awaken- 
ing, but  many  municipalities  are  not  conscious  of  their 
duty  in  this  respect. 

In  my  peregrinations  from  city  to  city  few  are  found  in 
which  public-spirited  men  are  not  alert  on  the  question 
of  assimilating  the  foreigners.  In  many  cities,  organ- 
izations of  various  kinds  are  interested  to  such  an  extent 
that  they  have  appointed  a  committee  to  study  the  need 
of  the  town  and  suggest  some  way  in  which  the  members 
collectively  or  individually  can  help  in  the  work.  All  such 
bodies  should  come  together,  formulate  definite  plans  of 
action,  and  cooperate  in  the  solution  of  this  great  problem. 
The  hindrance  to  the  realization  of  this  plan  in  many 


ORGANIZATION 


215 


cases  is  that  there  is  no  one  organization  strong  enough 
to  take  the  lead  and  bring  the  others  into  line. 

The  work  will  never  be  done  by  a  dozen  different  societies 
standing  apart  and  trying  to  function  independently  of 

CHART  ON  COMMUNITY  AMERICANIZATION  WORK 
MUNICIPAL  AND   PRIVATE  ORGANIZATIONS 


Community 

Y.  M.  C.  A, 

Foreign 

Speaking 
Societies, 

Public 

Library 

Public 
Schools 

Chamber 
of 
Commerce 

Rotarlans 
and 

Kiwanis 

Service 
Sons  & 
Oauohters 
of  Amer. 

Y.  W.  C.  A. 
Y.  M.  H.  A. 
K.  of  C. 

Clubs 

Revolution 

Y.  M.  C.  U. 

AMERICANIZATION   COMMUNITY  COMMITTEE 


Native  Born 

Foreign  Born 

ACTING  SUB-COMMITTEES 


Com. 

Com. 

on 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

Com. 

on 

Com. 

Com. 

Lecture! 

on 

Com. 

on 

on 

on 

on 

on 

on 

Court 

on 

on 

| 

Nitunli- 

on 

Advisory 

Employ- 

Women 

Home 

Public- 

Volunteer 

Proceed- 

Hospital 

Library 

Entertain- 

zetlon 

Englleh 

Council 

ment 

Worken 

Vlsltstlon 

ity 

Workers 

ing! 

ments 

each  other.  The  better  way  is  to  bring  representatives 
of  all  organizations  together,  form  a  community  Amer- 
icanization committee,  establish  regular  meeting  nights, 
and  see  that  a  complete  report  of  work  done  by  the 
several  agencies  is  given  at  every  meeting.  There  is  no 
reason  why  any  organization  should  feel  that  its  services 


216  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

are  not  needed.  In  most  cities  the  field  is  so  extensive 
and  the  laborers  so  few  that  the  workers  are  depressed 
and  disheartened  by  the  tremendous  need  and  the  petty 
accomplishments. 

When  the  community  Americanization  committee  is 
organized,  composed  of  prominent  citizens,  both  native- 
and  foreign-born,  representatives  of  the  public  schools  and 
of  business,  religious,  and  philanthropic  organizations, 
one  of  its  first  duties  is  to  appoint  acting  committees  on 
education  in  English,  on  naturalization,  on  lectures  and 
entertainments,  on  publicity,  on  securing  volunteer 
workers,  on  employment,  on  finance,  on  the  home  and  the 
women  workers,  on  the  hospitals,  and  on  other  needs  of 
the  foreign-born.  Whatever  activity  is  proposed,  what- 
ever avenue  of  approach  is  open,  whatever  need  the 
foreign-born  themselves  uncover,  a  special  group  of  men 
and  women  should  be  put  in  charge  of  that  work  and  held 
responsible  for  its  performance. 

One  of  the  most  important  functions  of  the  committee 
will  be  to  estimate  the  sum  needed  to  run  night  schools 
for  Americanization,  and  then  to  see  that  the  Board  of 
Directors  of  public  schools  appropriates  this  amount. 
Unfortunately,  many  cities  have  no  night  school  for 
foreigners ;  others,  when  money  is  scarce  for  municipal 
purposes,  cut  the  appropriation  for  evening  schools  for  im- 
migrants. The  Americanization  committee  should  be  the 
strongest  ally  of  the  superintendent  of  instruction  in  safe- 
guarding the  funds  necessary  for  this  most  important  work. 

The  committee  also  should  link   the  municipal   edu- 


ORGANIZATION  217 

cational  agency  with  the  industries  of  the  town.  Advertise- 
ments of  the  public  school  classes  should  be  distributed 
in  the  plants ;  if  an  Americanization  director  is  employed, 
he  should  have  free  access  to  the  industries.  If  the 
public  school  sends  its  teachers,  the  Plant  Americaniza- 
tion committee  should  cooperate  in  lining  up  the  men 
and  in  urging  them  to  attend  regularly.  There  should 
also  be  the  closest  cooperation  between  the  public 
school  and  the  industries  in  giving  instruction  to 
minors  of  foreign  speech.  These,  according  to  many 
state  laws,  must  attend  school  for  a  stated  number  of 
nights  each  year.  The  young  people  should  receive  the  in- 
struction best  fitted  for  them  as  members  of  the  com- 
munity and  industrial  workers.  If,  also,  the  teacher  and  the 
foreman  cooperate,  many  boys  and  girls  will  prove  so  apt  in 
their  studies  that  they  should  be  directed  and  encouraged 
to  pursue  these  further  in  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
In  every  city  conspicuous  instances  of  this  fact  are  cited. 
Having  given  free  scope  and  every  opportunity  for  the 
public  school  to  function  in  the  community  and  the 
industries,  the  community  Americanization  committee 
should  not  relax  its  effort  to  reach  every  section  of  the 
city  where  the  foreign-born  are  found.  As  we  have  already 
said,  many  foreigners  are  so  shy,  so  timid,  so  diffident,  that 
they  will  not  go  to  a  school  building  for  instruction.  To 
serve  these  we  need  men  and  women  having  the  missionary 
spirit  to  carry  the  message  of  Americanization  to  them. 
This  is  especially  needed  in  parts  of  the  country  where 
small  isolated  communities  are  found  within  ten  miles  of 


218  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

flourishing  cities.  Greensburg,  Pennsylvania,  is  an  ex- 
ample. In  the  city  you  can  generally  organize  a  strong 
Americanization  committee,  but  in  the  small  mining  towns 
around  it,  where  the  need  of  Americanization  is  far  greater, 
it  will  be  difficult  to  secure  an  effective  committee. 
The  work  can  be  done  only  by  missionaries  of  American- 
ization going  to  these  mining  camps  with  their  spirit  and 
their  program  to  tell  the  people  for  what  America  stands, 
and  to  give  them  examples  of  the  best  type  of  Americans. 

Hence,  it  is  important  that  the  men  on  the  American- 
ization committee  should  study  the  need  of  its  city 
and  the  towns  dependent  upon  it  in  an  economic  sense. 
If  this  is  done  and  a  force  of  volunteer  workers  organized, 
there  will  not  be  a  boarding  house,  a  lodge  room,  a  foreign 
society,  a  club,  a  factory,  a  mill,  or  a  shop  within  ten  miles 
of  that  city  without  the  message  of  Americanization 
having  been  carried  to  it.  If  the  work  is  done  in  the  city 
itself,  not  a  restaurant,  a  hotel,  a  shoe-shining  shop,  a 
candy  store,  a  tailor  establishment,  should  be  passed  by. 
Some  one  sympathetic  with  the  foreign-born  should  find 
out  who  in  each  of  these  places  needs  lessons  in  English  ; 
who  wants  help  with  his  naturalization  papers  ;  who  needs 
counsel  in  difficulty ;  who  needs  direction  in  perplexity ; 
and  every  foreign-born  man  and  woman  should  know  where 
he  may  find  a  true  American  friend  when  he  needs  help. 

To  facilitate  the  work  of  naturalization,  a  place  or 
places  should  be  set  apart  in  which  the  work  may  be  done. 
If  the  city  is  large  and  the  foreign-born  live  in  many 
sections,  a  room  in  the  public  school  in  each  section 


ORGANIZATION  219 

should  be  set  apart.  The  foreigners  will  know  what 
evenings  the  rooms  are  open  and  at  what  hours ;  workers 
will  be  on  hand  to  serve  the  applicants;  a  plentiful 
supply  of  blank  forms  for  first  and  second  papers  will  be 
secured ;  and,  as  far  as  possible,  the  number  of  men 
applying  in  any  one  night  will  be  so  regulated  that  no  one 
will  have  long  to  wait  and  none  be  turned  away  unserved. 
When  there  are  ten  or  fifteen  declarants  for  first  papers 
ready  to  go  to  court,  the  director  or  a  member  of  the 
committee  should  accompany  the  men  to  the  courthouse. 
The  same  should  be  true  when  aliens  petition  for  their 
second  papers. 

The  sub-committee  in  charge  of  lectures  and  entertain- 
ments should  see  that  these  are  run  synchronously  with 
classes  in  English  and  Civics,  in  the  sections  of  the  city 
where  the  classes  are  organized.  Saturday  and  Sunday 
are  good  days  on  which  to  run  these  social  and  educational 
gatherings.  They  should  not  interfere  with  the  class  work. 
It  is  our  experience  that  nothing  reacts  more  favorably 
upon  the  attendance  in  classes  than  a  good  social,  a 
show,  or  an  entertainment  to  which  the  members  of  the 
classes  and  their  friends  are  invited.  Admission  to  these 
functions  should  be  by  ticket,  and  the  tickets  should  be 
distributed  to  the  members  of  the  classes  —  two  or  three 
to  each,  and  no  one  should  be  admitted  without  a  ticket. 
The  function  also,  as  far  as  possible,  should  be  in  the  hands 
of  a  committee  of  the  best  men  and  women  in  the  classes, 
working  under  the  supervision  of  the  sub-committee  in 
charge  of  this  branch  of  the  work. 


220  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

It  is  not  necessary  to  describe  further  the  functions  of 
the  sub-committee  on  recreation  for  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  foreigners,  the  duties  of  the  committee  serving  women 
workers  and  the  homes,  of  the  men  in  charge  of  the  advi- 
sory council,  of  those  who  look  after  the  foreigners  who 
are  in  hospitals  or  sick  at  home,  and  many  other  services 
that  have  to  be  performed  by  all  those  connected  with  the 
work.  All  and  each  one  serving  in  the  true  American  spirit 
will  find  work  to  do,  and  they  will  ask  no  reward,  for  the 
gratitude  and  appreciation  of  the  served  will  give  them 
more  real  joy  than  gold  and  silver.  When  these  workers 
come  together  each  month  to  tell  the  story  of  their  various 
activities  to  the  committee  of  the  whole,  every  member 
—  native-  or  foreign-born  —  will  feel  glad  that  he  has  a 
hand  in  interpreting  America  to  his  alien  brother  and 
sister,  and  that  he  aids  in  the  shaping  of  the  ideals  and 
concepts  of  "  Coming  Americans." 

REFERENCES 

COMMUNITY  AMERICANIZATION:  F.  C.  Butler,  Bulletin  No. 
76,  Department  of  the  Interior,  Washington,  D.C., 
Chapter  V. 

A  COMMUNITY  CENTER:  Henry  E.  Jackson. 

SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  EDUCATION  :   Irving  King. 

AMONG  INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  :  Section  G.,  Y.  M.  C.  A.  In- 
dustrial Department. 

THE  WORKS  MANAGER  OF  TO-DAY:  Sydney  Webb,  Chapters 
XI-XII. 

WHAT  Is  AMERICA  :   Edward  Alsworth  Ross,  Chapter  IX. 

EXPERIMENTS  IN  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  :  Edward  Cadberry. 


CHAPTER  XI 
THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION 

EVERY  workman  has  an  ideal  toward  which  he  strives ; 
the  Americanization  worker  ought  also  to  have  one.  In  our 
work  with  many  types  of  foreign-born  men  in  America, 
what  is  our  goal,  what  is  the  great  objective?  If  we 
had  the  power  to  form  every  immigrant  coming  to  America 
into  an  ideal  citizen,  what  kind  of  man  would  he  be? 
What  are  the  qualities  of  good  citizenship  in  the  United 
States,  and  in  what  does  it  differ  from  good  citizenship 
in  Canada  or  France?  The  Greeks  used  to  talk  of  the 
"  good  citizen  "  at  the  time  they  killed  their  greatest 
citizen,  whom  the  world  to-day  honors  —  Socrates. 
The  idea  of  goodness  in  the  days  of  Charlemagne  would 
not  pass  muster  to-day,  any  more  than  the  Knights  of 
King  Arthur  would  fit  in  a  modern  army.  Professor 
Ferrero  tells  us  that  the  cold  virtues  of  the  stern  Puritan 
need  the  soothing  moderation  of  the  genial  Latin  before 
they  are  workable  in  modern  times.  Whether  or  not 
the  good  citizen  is  to  be  produced  by  a  compromise  be- 
tween the  Teuton  and  the  Latin,  I  am  not  ready  to 
answer ;  but  one  thing  is  very  clear,  that  however  much 
we  may  regret  the  departure  of  the  solidity  of  puri- 

221 


222  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

tanic  conduct,  it  is  hopeless  to  expect  the  foreign-born 
to  shape  their  life  after  the  model  of  colonial  days.  A 
Puritan,  walking  along  Broadway  in  New  York  City, 
would  be  as  much  out  of  place  in  the  twentieth  century 
as  one  of  the  aborigines  of  Tasmania.  The  good  citizen 
of  this  twentieth  century  is  the  model  we  need,  for  he 
alone  will  pass  muster,  and  the  type  must  be  American. 

Good  citizenship  is  made  up  of  many  parts.  As  the 
body  comprises  many  members  each  of  which  must  be 
healthy  and  functioning  aright  before  a  perfect  organism 
is  realized,  so  the  citizen,  having  many  duties,  must 
discharge  each  aright,  before  good  citizenship  is  realized 
in  the  state.  Every  citizen  has  duties  to  the  home  as 
husband  and  father,  duties  to  the  community  as  a  mem- 
ber, duties  to  the  industries  as  a  producer.  These 
several  spheres  have  a  vital  relation  to  good  citizen- 
ship. The  vast  majority  of  foreign-born  adults  provide 
for  their  families  most  amply,  they  work  regularly  and 
capably  as  wage-earners,  but  they  are  not  considered 
an  essential  part  of  the  political  life  of  the  community 
as  long  as  they  have  no  political  power.  There  are  about 
five  million  aliens  in  the  country  who  are  not  a  part  of 
America,  for  they  have  no  voice  in  the  government. 

When  aliens  become  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
let  us  believe  that  they  are  good  husbands,  considerate 
neighbors,  and  good  workmen.  Without  these  char- 
acteristics the  foreign-born  will  not  make  good  Ameri- 
can citizens.  When,  however,  aliens  come  into  the 
family  of  Americans  they  enter  into  new  relationships, 


THE   GOAL   IN  AMERICANIZATION  223 

they  assume  new  duties,  their  relationship  to  every  other 
member  of  this  democracy  is  changed.  What  does  this 
changed  relationship  involve,  what  does  it  mean  to  us  and 
to  them  ?  If  the  five  million  aliens  were  to  enter  into  the 
body  politic  before  the  next  general  election,  it  would 
mean  a  great  deal  to  the  nation  whether  or  not  these 
millions  were  conscious  of  the  new  responsibilities  rest- 
ing upon  them.  The  naturalized  citizen  cannot  dis- 
charge his  obligations  unless  he  qualifies  in  knowledge, 
intelligence,  and  character.  And  of  these  three  virtues 
the  greatest  is  character. 

My  purpose  in  this  chapter  is  to  give  the  Americaniza- 
tion worker  an  idea  of  the  virtues  each  alien  should  pos- 
sess before  he  can  be  classified  as  a  "  good  citizen." 

I.  The  alien  should  know  what  the  family  possesses 
and  do  his  best  to  increase  its  holdings. 

As  the  soul  must  have  a  body,  so  must  citizenship  have 
a  country  —  a  material  basis  for  the  display  of  patriot- 
ism. The  country  affords  an  arena  on  which  the  virtues 
of  citizenship  may  be  cultivated  and  nurtured.  The 
quality  and  intensity  of  men's  patriotism  are  not  meas- 
ured by  the  area  of  the  country  to  which  they  belong. 
The  highest  type  of  patriotism  has  been  displayed  in 
countries  that  are  small  in  quantity  and  barren  in  quality. 
America  is  highly  favored  in  extent  of  territory  and  rich- 
ness of  resources.  The  density  of  population  in  America 
is  only  about  one  tenth  that  of  Switzerland,  one  thir- 
teenth that  of  England,  and  one  twentieth  that  of  Bel- 
gium. Hence,  the  margin  of  subsistence  here  is  wide, 


224  THE   PROBLEM   OF   AMERICANIZATION 

and  if  sanity  obtains  in  industrial  and  agricultural  re- 
lations, there  is  reason  to  believe  that  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence in  coming  years  in  these  United  States  will  be 
ample  for  all.  This  point  should  be  made  clear  to  the 
foreign-speaking,  for  it  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with 
patriotism. 

Much  has  been  said  of  late  both  in  the  press  and  on  the 
platform  about  Americanism.  We  are  told  that  it  is  a 
spiritual  possession,  and  finds  its  deepest  expression  in 
loyalty  to  certain  tenets  laid  down  by  the  fathers.  This 
is  true,  but  not  the  whole  truth.  We  need  a  material 
basis.  Every  immigrant  coming  to  America  asks,  what 
is  the  promise  of  life  in  America?  Immigrants  have 
come  from  the  Old  to  the  New  World  expecting  more  of 
the  good  things  of  life  than  they  were  able  to  get  across 
the  seas.  There  is  no  reason  why  they  should  be  dis- 
appointed. They  cannot  expect  to  find  the  land  in 
America  fruitful  without  plowing,  sowing,  cultivating, 
and  harvesting.  They  will  not  earn  money  in  mine 
and  mill,  factory  and  shop,  unless  they  work.  Food, 
clothing,  and  shelter  for  man  and  animal  depend  upon  the 
amount  we  put  into  the  earth ;  the  quantity  of  consump- 
tive goods  at  our  command  depends  on  the  work  we  put 
on  raw  material. 

There  is  no  more  dangerous  fallacy  brought  by  immi- 
grants to  America  than  the  expectation  of  making  high 
wages  without  sacrifice,  hard  toil,  and  persistent  effort. 
When  they  in  time  find  out  their  error,  they  are  dis- 
appointed, disgruntled,  and  rebellious.  They  become 


THE   GOAL   IN   AMERICANIZATION  225 

fertile  soil  to  socialistic  and  anarchistic  propaganda, 
and  it  is  the  road  along  which  radicalism  of  the  reddest 
type  comes  into  America.  The  Americanization  director 
can  correct  many  of  these  ideas  by  appealing  to  the 
common  sense  of  the  foreign-speaking.  Never  have 
men  been  able  to  live  without  work,  and  hard  work  at 
that.  America  does  not  differ  in  this  respect  from 
Europe.  What  we  affirm,  and  what  the  immigrant  has 
a  just  right  to  expect,  is  that  the  reward  offered  to  honest 
toil  in  America  is  more  ample  than  that  in  Europe.  This 
country  is  not  a  paradise,  and  yet  millions  of  immigrants 
have  found  in  it  ample  means  of  subsistence;  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  them  have  risen  from  poverty  to  the  well- 
to-do  class,  and  thousands  of  them  have  become  wealthy. 
The  price  paid  was  honest  toil.  If  these  people  had 
stayed  in  Europe,  their  status  would  perhaps  have  been 
that  of  their  fathers  and  grandfathers  before  them  — 
grinding  toil,  bare  subsistence,  and  the  dread  of  want. 

Much  agitation  is  also  carried  on  among  the  foreign- 
bom  concerning  the  present  industrial  order.  Agitators 
emphasize  the  capitalistic  regime  and  the  wage  system ; 
they  criticize  the  method  of  production  and  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth ;  they  talk  about  industrial  democ- 
racy and  the  nationalization  of  minerals  and  raw  ma- 
terial ;  many  advise  sabotage  and  the  universal  strike 
—  methods  which  tend  to  destroy  the  very  foundations  of 
our  social  and  economic  structure,  advocated  by  men  who 
never  saved  anything  in  their  lives,  but  who  believe 
themselves  capable  of  running  the  business  of  this  nation, 


226  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

which  amounts,  in  manufacturing  products  alone,  to  more 
than  $25,000,000,000.  We  have  passed  through  a  mili- 
tary experience  that  cost  the  nation  about  that  sum.  To 
do  this  work,  the  government  called  to  its  aid  the  biggest 
business  men  of  the  nation.  America  is  the  richest 
nation  on  the  earth,  and  yet  the  scandalous  waste,  un- 
veiled by  commissions,  is  burdensome  and  humiliating. 
But  the  work  was  successfully  and  well  done.  Suppose  the 
soap-box  orators  had  been  in  control  —  men  who  know 
nothing  about  production  and  transportation,  who  know 
not  the  A  B  C  of  commerce  and  finance,  who  disregard 
the  economics  of  business  and  industry  and  flaunt  upon 
an  innocent  audience  theories  conned  in  the  brains  of 
dreamers  who  speak  of  industrial  and  social  reconstruc- 
tion —  what  would  have  been  the  fate  of  the  boys 
over  there,  and  the  condition  of  the  world  to-day?  In- 
experience during  the  war  cost  us  much.  Many  radical 
schemes  were  tried  in  industries  and  the  results  were 
disappointing.  These  experiences  are  our  safeguards 
against  radicalism  in  times  of  peace. 

This  foolish  and  dangerous  talk  takes  root  in  the  minds 
of  men  who  do  not  think.  If  we  show  the  workmen 
the  silliness  of  the  propaganda,  their  common  sense 
will  see  that  "  nothing  comes  from  nothing."  The 
goods  we  have  can  be  produced  only  by  work,  and  we 
cannot  change  the  social  and  industrial  order  just  as 
easily  as  a  man  can  change  his  clothes.  Good  citizenship 
means  each  one  in  his  sphere  keeping  busy,  doing  honest 
work,  and  contributing  to  the  sum  total  of  wealth  for  the 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  227 

support  of  the  nation.  Abuses  exist;  reforms  must  be 
effected.  A  greater  share  of  self-determination  should 
be  given  wage-earners,  but  let  us  not  tear  down  the 
house  while  we  need  only  some  improvements  to  put 
it  in  order. 

The  foreign-born  is  thrifty.  The  Italians  in  New 
York  City  are  said  to  have  accumulated  property  to  the 
sum  of  $100,000,000 ;  the  Poles  of  Buffalo  to  the  sum  of 
$40,000,000;  the  Greeks  of  Manchester,  $15,000,000; 
and  the  Slovaks  in  the  Pittsburgh  district,  $15,000,000. 
In  every  foreign-speaking  community  this  saving  goes 
on;  it  is  the  way  in  which  the  capital  of  the  nation  in- 
creases. We  all  should  encourage  and  commend  foreigners 
for  this  virtue.  The  salvation  of  this  and  other  nations 
must  come  by  saving  and  not  by  spending.  Right 
economic  concepts  need  to  be  instilled  in  the  minds  of 
the  producing  classes,  both  wage-earners  and  manu- 
facturers. To  throw  the  industrial  world  into  confusion 
by  false  and  pernicious  theories  will  bring  calamity  to  all. 

Nature  and  man  have  made  possible  the  present  well- 
being  of  the  United  States.  If  man  cease  to  work,  how- 
ever, nature  will  soon  fail  us,  and  the  outcome  will  be 
barbarism.  Kindergarten  principles  of  economics  need  to 
be  emphasized,  and  the  common  sense  of  the  people  will 
see  the  point  and  follow  the  lead.  The  world  in  its 
progress  has  depended  on  brain  and  not  on  the  rule  of 
majorities.  No  battle  was  ever  won  by  an  army  at 
the  head  of  which  was  a  debating  club ;  and  no  more 
will  the  conflict  with  nature  bring  us  the  necessities  of 


228  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

life  and  comfort  if  we  move  at  the  behest  of  a  debating 
group.  Sound  economic  teaching;  willingness  to  work, 
whether  it  be  in  the  field  or  at  the  forge,  on  the  ship  or 
in  the  shop  ;  precedence  to  talent  and  leadership  to  ability ; 
the  desire  to  save  and  lay  in  store ;  obedience  to  authority 
and  sound  financiering  —  these  are  the  requisites  for 
good  citizenship  in  the  native-  as  well  as  the  foreign- 
born.  Every  Americanization  worker  who  leads  the 
foreign-speaking  to  an  appreciation  of  these  qualities 
serves  both  the  men  he  reaches  and  the  nation.  A  fool 
may  throw  a  brick  at  a  well-regulated  timepiece  and 
smash  it,  but  it  will  take  a  well-trained  hand  to  repair 
the  damage.  False  economic  teaching  may  lead  the 
wage-earners  to  do  foolish  things  and  to  throw  the  in- 
dustries into  confusion,  but  the  industries  must  ulti- 
mately be  brought  to  order  by  the  brains  of  the  nation. 

II.  Besides  sound  economic  teaching,  the  foreign- 
born  needs  to  know  the  family  history,  what  kind  of 
men  laid  down  the  foundation,  what  were  their  ideas 
of  the  purpose  of  the  Republic,  what  have  been  the  trials 
of  the  builders  of  the  state,  and  how  the  family  conducts 
its  affairs  to-day.  The  more  familiar  the  foreign-born 
voter  is  with  the  family  tree,  its  traditions,  its  purposes, 
and  its  future,  the  better  qualified  will  he  be  to  discharge 
the  obligations  of  good  citizenship. 

Ignorance  is  a  menace  to  democracy.  The  leading 
nations  of  Europe,  now  in  the  van  in  the  onward  march 
of  democracy,  have  reduced  their  illiteracy  to  less  than 
two  per  cent.  The  last  record  we  have  of  illiteracy  in 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  229 

America  is  more  than  five  times  as  great.  The  two  main 
contributing  factors  are  the  negroes  and  the  foreign- 
born.  Illiteracy  among  some  of  the  immigrant  groups 
in  pre-war  days  ran  up  to  70  per  cent.  The  peoples  who 
come  from  southeastern  Europe  gave  an  average  of  35 
per  cent.  The  enforcement  of  the  literacy  test  law  is 
reducing  the  number  of  illiterate  immigrants  coming  to 
this  country,  and  we  expect  to  see  a  higher  type  of  im- 
migrant entering.  If  literacy,  however,  is  the  state  in 
which  millions  of  foreigners  in  the  country  now  are  it 
behooves  us  to  help  them  to  read  and  write  our  tongue. 
Those  who  come  from  non-English-speaking  countries 
to  America  must  learn  the  English  language.  A  man  who 
is  literate  in  his  mother  tongue  will  make  more  rapid 
progress  in  learning  English  than  the  illiterate.  This 
first  step  in  Americanization  should  be  impressed  on 
every  alien  coming  to  America  as  the  expressed  will  of 
the  nation.  Many  states  have  passed  laws  compelling 
minors  who  cannot  read,  write,  and  speak  English  to 
attend  school  a  certain  number  of  nights  during  the  year. 
Some  states  have  attempted  to  pass  laws  compelling 
adults  to  do  the  same.  Public  sentiment  is  against 
this.  Men  in  their  fifties,  having  no  knowledge  of 
English,  will  rarely  acquire  it.  They  may  be  good 
workmen,  genial  neighbors,  and  provident  parents, 
but  the  chances  are  that  the  rights  of  citizenship  will 
never  be  theirs.  What  shall  we  do  for  these  people? 
Leave  them  in  their  ignorance?  No,  an  effort  should 
be  made  to  bring  them  by  word  and  picture  the  spirit  of 


230  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

America.  These  men  are  generally  heads  of  families, 
and  will  spend  the  remaining  years  of  their  lives  in 
our  country.  They  will  have  children  who  have  absorbed 
the  American  spirit  and  whose  ambition  is  to  become 
real  Americans.  Let  us  show  the  seniors  what  this 
spirit  of  the  land  is ;  they  will  understand  their  children 
better  and  they  will  rejoice  in  the  greater  richness  that 
has  come  into  the  lives  of  their  offspring  though  they 
themselves  will  never  participate  in  it. 

The  great  field  of  Americanization,  however,  is  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  alien  men  and  women  between 
twenty  and  forty-five  who  are  ignorant  of  our  tongue 
and  dead  to  the  traditions  of  democracy.  To  teach  these 
people  the  English  language  is  a  difficult  but  not  an  in- 
surmountable task.  To  give  them  a  clear  idea  of  the 
spirit  of  America  will  clarify  much  that  is  now  obscure 
and  vague  in  their  minds.  Volunteer  and  religious 
organizations  have  helped  thousands  of  foreign-speak- 
ing men  and  women  to  a  knowledge  of  our  tongue  and 
an  understanding  of  America.  Both  federal  and  state 
governments  are  interested  in  the  work  and  are  pro- 
moting comprehensive  programs  for  the  education  and 
naturalization  of  aliens.  We  hope  that  Congress,  the 
states  and  municipalities  will  make  reasonable  appro- 
priations for  the  education  of  aliens.  Much  more,  how- 
ever, must  be  done  before  this  problem  is  solved. 

Money  is  needed,  but  it  is  not  the  only  requisite.  If 
the  federal  government  appropriated  all  the  millions 
asked  for,  if  the  states  and  municipalities  were  to  add 


THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  231 

many  millions  more,  the  problem  would  not  be  solved 
unless  the  people  of  the  several  municipalities  showed 
a  friendly  attitude  to  the,  foreign-born  and  a  willingness 
to  welcome  them  into  the  family. 

The  same  attitude  must  characterize  government 
officials.  Examples  are  not  lacking  of  government 
agents  hindering  rather  than  aiding  Americanization. 
Politics  and  work  for  aliens  are  not  bedfellows.  When 
neither  official  good  will  nor  public  sympathy  supports 
the  effort  of  educating  foreigners,  all  plans  to  enlighten 
them  fail.  When  I  asked  a  club  of  foreigners  what 
we  could  do  to  help  them,  their  answer  was :  "  Help 
us  in  this  place  to  be  treated  as  human  beings."  These 
men  knew  enough  of  democracy  to  feel  the  discrimina- 
tion made  in  work  and  in  social  spheres.  The  great 
desideratum  in  Americanization  work  is  men.  The  right 
kind  of  men  and  women  is  more  needed  than  gold ; 
right  public  sentiment  is  more  needed  than  silver;  and 
the  light  of  democracy  will  shine  into  the  hearts  of 
aliens  only  when  it  radiates  from  our  own.  We  need 
men  and  women  representing  government  activities  who 
are  devoted  and  capable,  discreet  and  wise,  and  drawn 
to  the  work  more  by  the  love  of  humanity  than  the  hon- 
orarium received.  We  must  subject  officialism,  race 
prejudice,  superior  learning,  to  the  love  of  man  as  man. 
Every  immigrant  is  a  potential  American,  if  he  has  the 
right  kind  of  environment  and  a  sympathetic  leader. 

Every  industry  employing  foreign-speaking  peoples 
can  do  much  in  this  work  of  enlightenment.  Every 


232 

plant  employing  a  hundred  or  more  aliens  may  with 
little  trouble  find  out  the  status  of  the  foreign-born 
workers.  An  Americanization  committee,  carefully 
chosen  from  among  the  most  sympathetic  workers,  should 
see  that  every  alien  workman  is  personally  interviewed 
as  to  his  knowledge  of  English  and  his  desire  for  citizen- 
ship. Every  community  having  foreign-speaking  neigh- 
bors should  also  be  aroused  to  its  obligation.  The 
organization  of  community  Americanization  committees 
is  a  movement  in  the  right  direction.  Every  alien  in  the 
city  not  approached  in  the  works  should  be  interviewed 
by  a  wise  and  sympathetic  citizen  who  will  make  all 
necessary  inquiries  as  to  English  and  naturalization. 
On  every  committee,  whether  in  the  industry  or  in  the 
community,  foreign-born  citizens  able  to  talk  English 
should  be  found.  We  should  work  with  and  not  for  the 
foreigner,  as  I  have  already  stated.  When  the  native-  and 
foreign-born  men  of  the  community  sit  in  joint  confer- 
ence to  plan  the  best  means  to  bring  the  message  of  Ameri- 
canization to  the  foreign-born,  the  work  will  be  wisely  done. 
The  effort  in  the  industries  and  that  in  the  community 
should  be  coordinated.  Duplication  of  effort  is  waste  of 
money  and  energy.  Chairmen  of  Americanization  com- 
mittees in  the  several  plants  should  be  ex-officio  members 
of  the  community  Americanization  committee.  This 
would  assure  uniformity  of  methods,  interchange  of  ideas, 
cooperation  between  the  industry  and  the  community, 
and  the  service  of  the  best  men  to  promote  a  program 
of  interpreting  America,  its  institutions,  and  its  men. 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  233 

Many  foreigners  live  in  communities  of  less  than  five 
thousand  population.  These  include  towns  near  mines, 
quarries,  cement  plants,  and  chemical  works.  If  these 
are  added  to  agricultural  communities  made  up  largely 
of  foreign-born  families  the  total  amounts  to  thousands. 
These  smaller  communities,  as  I  stated  before,  need  en- 
lightenment. The  work  of  Americanization  will  not 
be  complete  if  these  are  left  in  illiteracy.  The  program 
projected  in  these  small  centers  will  be  the  same  as  that 
promoted  in  large  cities,  but  the  method  of  approach 
will  be  different.  Most  of  these  small  communities  are 
near  large  cities,  and  the  service  rendered  should  radiate 
from  these  points.  In  mining  regions,  such  as  the  coal 
fields  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  West  Virginia, 
the  copper  and  iron  mines  of  Michigan  and  Minnesota, 
the  lead  mines  of  Missouri,  in  lumber  camps  in  Maine 
or  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  as  well  as  in  settled  agricultural 
counties  having  large  numbers  of  foreign-speaking  men 
like  those  in  New  Jersey,  Massachusetts,  Connecticut, 
Minnesota,  and  California,  Americanization  work  can 
best  be  done  by  grouping  the  camps  or  settlements  into 
zones  and  putting  an  Americanization  director  in  each 
zone,  whose  headquarters  are  in  the  city  where  the 
business  interests  converge  and  in  which  volunteer  workers 
may  be  found.  This  plan  will  reach  the  foreigners  in 
isolated  communities  and  teach  them  for  what  America 
stands. 

The  state  of  Pennsylvania  has  under  way  a  compre- 
hensive plan  to  reach  every  isolated  community  of  this 


234  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

nature.  Its  aim  is  to  coordinate  government  agencies, 
philanthropic  societies,  and  business  interests  in  one 
strong  drive  to  enlighten  the  two  million  odd  foreign- 
born  in  the  state.  This  is  the  rational  way  to  do  the 
work.  It  is  a  campaign  of  enlightenment  in  the  funda- 
mentals of  democracy,  and  it  will  help  not  only  the 
foreign-born,  but  the  native  as  well.  When  race  prejudice 
as  well  as  illiteracy,  narrowness  as  well  as  ignorance,  class 
consciousness  as  well  as  class  indifference  are  banished, 
the  foreigners  will  be  happier.  If  every  state  having 
immigrants  follows  a  sane  plan  of  Americanization, 
there  will  be  no  foreign-born  group  unchallenged  as  to  its 
loyalty  to  the  Union,  and  no  community  having  foreign- 
born  neighbors  left  ignorant  of  its  obligation  and  re- 
sponsibility to  America. 

One  of  the  questions  asked  by  an  attendant  in  an 
Americanization  conference  was :  "  Suppose  we  get  all 
men  to  take  out  their  papers,  will  the  work  of  Ameri- 
canization be  done?  "  The  answer  was  "No."  Thou- 
sands of  aliens  have  been  made  citizens  in  the  flimsiest 
way.  They  have  little  or  no  idea  of  the  American  plan  of 
government,  and  no  clear  idea  of  the  objective  of  this 
democracy.  To  make  aliens  citizens  by  the  thousands 
and  then  forget  them  is  to  leave  the  foreign-speaking 
community  fallow  for  the  professional  politician.  It  is  no 
exaggeration  to  say  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of  foreign- 
born  voters  go  to  the  polls  having  no  idea  of  their  respon- 
sibility in  a  democracy.  Who  will  carry  the  necessary 
information  to  these  people  that  they  may  better  discharge 


THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  235 

their  civic  duties  ?  Government  officials  cannot  do  this, 
the  Americanization  worker  can. 

In  some  communities  government  agents  promoting 
Americanization  work  are  regarded  with  suspicion  be- 
cause of  political  affiliations.  In  half  a  dozen  cities  I 
found  men  in  political  offices  dead  set  against  the  work 
in  Americanization  because  the  promoters  represented 
the  opposite  political  party.  In  a  few  places,  the  mayor 
and  his  henchmen  capitalized  the  Americanization  work 
done  in  their  city.  Politics,  when  once  they  enter  into 
the  work  of  Americanization,  doom  it  to  failure.  It  is 
difficult  enough  to  keep  out  the  taint  of  politics  when 
governmental  activity  is  limited  to  English  and  natural- 
ization ;  if  it  is  extended  to  instructing  the  foreign-born 
voter  how  to  vote,  what  elections  mean,  how  electors 
should  do  their  duty,  how  democracy  is  interpreted  by  the 
leading  parties,  what  should  be  the  qualifications  of  office 
seekers,  then  though  an  angel  from  heaven  did  the  in- 
structing, he  would  not  be  able  to  keep  out  political  bias. 
Lectures  of  this  nature  must  be  given  entirely  by  volunteer 
and  philanthropic  organizations. 

The  ideal  citizen,  be  he  foreign-  or  native-born,  puts 
patriotism  above  partisanship,  principles  above  per- 
sonalities, country  above  creed.  No  community  will 
come  to  its  own  in  a  political  sense  if  ethical  consider- 
ations are  cast  to  the  wind.  We  are  making  citizens 
of  the  foreign-born  now  faster  than  ever  before  in  the 
history  of  the  country,  and  unfortunately  little  is  done  to 
quicken  the  consciences  of  these  men.  It  is  best  that  the 


236  THE   PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

foreign-born  voter  should  align  himself  with  one  of  the 
great  parties ;  all  we  ask  for  is  that  he  do  so  knowing 
what  democracy  means,  how  it  is  to  be  preserved,  and 
what  are  the  ideals  of  this  American  experiment.  The 
men  fit  to  do  this  are  not  time  servers,  political  charlatans, 
itinerant  spell-binders,  crawling  office  seekers.  If  adopted 
citizens  are  to'  be  enlightened,  the  work  must  be  done 
by  clean,  straightforward,  honest  patriots,  free  from 
political  bias  and  above  political  partisanship. 

Many  speak  of  America  as  "  God's  country."  Would 
it  not  be  worth  while  to  make  Americanization  work  fit 
that  title?  This  confluence  of  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
on  a  land  prepared  by  the  Puritans  for  self-government, 
means  something  in  the  ultimate  solution  of  the  problem 
of  race  amelioration  and  human  development.  Never 
before  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  there  been  such 
a  mixing  of  the  blood  of  races  as  in  America.  The  spread 
of  Grecian  culture  was  nothing  like  it ;  the  dominancy 
of  the  Roman  Republic  had  something  similar  in  it ;  the 
commingling  of  nations  in  Europe  when  each  fought  for 
standing  room  is  most  like  this,  and  yet  it  differs  in  the 
fact  that  there  it  was  done  by  the  sword,  and  here  by 
good  will.  Kelt  and  Teuton,  Slav  and  Latin,  Chaldaic 
and  Mongol,  have  come  of  their  own  accord,  each  contrib- 
uting his  part  to  participate  in  making  a  democracy. 

President  Wilson  has  said :  "  We  are  the  predestined 
mediators  of  mankind."  "  America  is  the  hope  of  the 
world,  and  if  she  does  not  justify  this  hope,  the  result  will 
be  unthinkable."  We  need  ideal  citizenry  for  this,  and  it 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  237 

can  be  attained  only  by  raising  the  standard  of  citizenship 
in  both  native-  and  foreign-born  electors.  The  tide  of 
events  points  clearly  to  the  leadership  of  America  in  the 
great  task  of  establishing  the  "  Republic  of  Man."  The 
world  looks  to  the  United  States  for  this  leadership,  and 
it  can  be  given  only  by  men  being  true  to  the  prophets  and 
priests  of  this  democratic  ideal,  who  have  stood  for 
justice  to  the  weak  at  home  and  the  right  of  self-deter- 
mination abroad.  Our  task  is  to  make  the  peoples  in 
America  catch  the  vision  of  ideal  democracy,  and  resolve 
to  make  it  the  best  among  the  popular  governments  of  the 
world.  The  15,000,000  foreign-born  in  these  United 
States  should  be  shown  how  they  can  help  in  bringing  to 
pass  the  coming  day  when  the  people  shall  rule  in  right- 
eousness and  truth.  In  this  process  of  enlightenment 
the  Americanization  leader  cannot  find  a  nobler  calling, 
a  more  sacred  duty,  or  a  more  exalted  mission.  He  will 
serve  not  only  the  foreign-born,  not  only  the  future  of  these 
United  States,  but  also  the  interest  of  humanity  struggling 
to  realize  a  better  world  in  which  dwell  justice  and  peace. 
III.  Moral  Requisites.  America  will  never  be  "  the 
predestined  mediator  of  mankind  "  if  moral  qualities  are 
wanting.  We  are  all  proud  of  the  history  of  the  country. 
We  know  that  the  story  is  not  perfect ;  there  are  many 
shortcomings  among  both  fathers  and  children.  And 
yet  we  risk  the  statement  that  no  other  nation  in  the  world 
can  point  to  as  consistent  an  effort  to  promote  justice 
and  truth,  peace  and  good  will,  in  home  and  foreign 
affairs,  as  these  United  States  in  the  last  hundred  years. 


238  THE  PROBLEM  OF  AMERICANIZATION 

The  purpose  of  the  founders  of  the  nation  as  ex- 
pressed in  the  preamble  of  the  Constitution  —  "to 
establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity,  provide 
for  the  common  defense,  promote  the  general  welfare, 
and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our 
posterity,"  has  been  the  guiding  star  of  the  nation.  The 
unprejudiced  reader  of  American  history  will  see  how  it 
has  been  realized  in  a  remarkable  degree.  The  American 
government  and  American  diplomacy  have  on  the  whole 
steered  true  to  the  ideal  laid  down  by  the  fathers.  If  the 
Americanization  promoter  brings  this  fact  to  the  foreign- 
born's  attention,  if  he  emphasizes  the  character  of  the 
men  who  stood  at  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  state  and  steered 
true  to  the  course  mapped  out  by  the  founders  he  will 
render  a  valuable  service  to  the  nation. 

The  World  War  has  shown  us  how  one  of  the  most 
enlightened  nations  of  the  earth,  under  autocratic  leader- 
ship, can  shake  the  foundations  of  civilization.  It  may 
be  done  again,  if  the  leading  nations  of  the  earth  do  not 
find  a  way  to  settle  international  problems  by  arbitration. 
America's  place  and  the  part  it  will  play  in  this  question 
must  depend  upon  the  way  it  keeps  its  own  house  in  order. 
"  Eternal  vigilance  "  must  be  exercised  against  the  foes 
of  democracy  who  hide  in  the  folds  of  the  Stars  and  Stripes. 
There  are  those  who  strike  at  the  foundations  of  govern- 
ment while  professing  to  be  patriots,  who  use  every  op- 
portunity to  make  the  nation  serve  them  rather  than  the 
reverse.  Against  these  men,  all  patriots,  native-  and 
foreign-born,  must  wage  war.  This  can  be  done  only  by 


THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  239 

the  exercise  of  moral  qualities.  The  virtues  of  duty  and 
obedience,  service  and  honor,  truth  and  uprightness,  are 
the  only  defenses  known  to  ward  off  corruption,  intrigue, 
and  class  warfare. 

We  have  many  shortcomings.  One  of  the  grossest 
is  the  corruption  of  our  cities.  It  may  not  be  so  great 
as  the  press  would  have  us  believe,  but  it  exists  and 
causes  every  patriot  to  blush.  Again  and  again  have 
municipal  officials  been  found  guilty  of  malfeasance  in 
office,  and  yet  they  escape  the  punishment  due  male- 
factors. In  some  instances,  such  men  are  brazen  enough 
to  come  again  with  besmirched  records  in  quest  of  office, 
and  behind  them  stands  the  political  machine,  whose 
manipulators  defy  public  sentiment,  disregard  the  de- 
mands of  decency  and  honesty,  and  clothe  their  "  pals  " 
in  the  robes  of  office  when  they  ought  to  be  in  striped 
garments.  It  is  downright  moral  turpitude,  and  is  due 
to  the  fact  that  the  machine  puts  party  success  above 
public  morality,  loyalty  to  criminals  above  the  law, 
and  hoodwinks  electors  by  swearing  that  black  is  white. 
In  this  as  in  other  things  "  the  truth  shall  make  us  free." 
A  criminal  is  a  criminal  and  should  have  no  favors  if 
political  institutions  are  to  be  honored  in  the  land.  Cor- 
rupt practices,  if  persisted  in,  will  humiliate  any  nation. 
The  honor  of  the  Union,  a  due  sense  of  decency  and 
honesty,  should  stand  for  impartial  justice  to  all.  The 
political  thief  is  just  as  black  as  the  commercial  one, 
and  both  need  the  stern  hand  of  the  law  to  bring 
them  to  justice.  When  the  foreign-born  read  of  this 


240  THE   PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

leniency  to  political  prisoners  their  respect  for  law  is 
gone. 

Another  evil  from  which  we  suffer  much  is  mob  rule. 
In  these  post-bellum  days,  the  spirit  of  lawlessness  is 
abroad,  property  is  destroyed,  the  police  force  is  set  at 
defiance,  and  lives  are  sacrificed.  The  recent  experiences 
through  which  the  country  has  passed  in  the  steel  strike  in 
Gary,  Youngstown,  Johnstown,  and  other  centers ;  the 
industrial  conflicts  on  the  Pacific  Coast  as  well  as  in  the 
mining  regions  of  West  Virginia  and  Pennsylvania,  are 
most  disquieting.  Men  have  never  gained  anything  by 
mob  law.  The  real  progress  of  society  must  come  through 
adjustment  of  relations  between  parties  whose  interests 
conflict.  If  the  courts  cannot  give  relief,  the  legislatures 
can  pass  laws  required  to  remedy  existing  evils.  That 
is  the  way  society  has  advanced.  It  is  the  Anglo-Saxon 
way,  and  its  fruits  are  peace  and  prosperity. 

The  one  thing  needed  above  all  else  in  Americaniza- 
tion work  is  service.  The  old  motto,  "  I  serve,"  is  a 
good  one  to  place  in  every  patriot's  head.  The  spirit 
of  service  injected  into  the  young  manhood  and  woman- 
hood of  every  community  will  win  the  foreign-born  to 
America.  We  are  all  proud  of  its  manifestation  in  the 
World  War.  When  I  visited  the  cantonments  of  the  coun- 
try, I  saw  men  who  were  managers  and  part  owners  of 
industrial  plants  sleeping  in  bunks,  working  fourteen  hours 
a  day,  often  in  rain  and  mud,  and  eating  in  mess  houses 
that  were  most  crude,  for  they  wished  to  do  something 
for  their  country.  Tens  of  thousands  of  college  boys 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  241 

from  every  part  of  the  country  left  stately  halls  of  learn- 
ing, homes  full  of  comfort  and  happiness,  and  volun- 
tarily lived  the  hard  life  of  a  soldier,  because  they  heard 
their  country's  call  and  wished  to  serve.  It  was  splen- 
did in  every  way.  It  proved  the  heart  of  America 
when  the  testing  came,  and  the  lesson  will  not  be 
forgotten  by  the  men  of  this  generation.  Never  did 
the  fires  of  patriotism  burn  brighter  than  the  morn- 
ing on  which  the  call  came  for  men  to  serve  in  order 
that  the  heritage  of  democracy  might  not  be  lost  to  the 
sons  of  men.  The  service  rendered  by  the  millions  of 
American  boys  is  the  best  proof  that  the  manhood  of  the 
nation  is  going  to  see  this  democracy  preserved  and 
perpetuated.  In  this  splendid  display  of  patriotism  we 
should  riot  lose  sight  of  the  part  played  by  the  foreign- 
born.  Thousands  of  these  young  men  were  subjects  of 
foreign  powers  and  could  have  claimed  exemption,  — 
they  waived  their  rights,  stayed  in  the  army,  and  fought 
for  democracy  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  If  this 
spirit  of  service  is  capitalized  to  make  democracy  safe  at 
home,  many  of  the  evils  from  which  we  suffer  will  dis- 
appear. 

What  could  it  not  accomplish  if  rallied  around  the  polls 
on  election  day !  The  ballot  box  has  been  called  the 
"  ark  of  the  covenant  of  democracy."  The  name  is 
appropriate.  Unhallowed  hands  are  laid  upon  it  and  we 
need  brave  lads  to  strike  them  off.  Corrupting  para- 
sites are  packing  the  ballot  box  with  chaff,  swearing  it 
to  be  whole  wheat  gathered  from  the  fields  of  democracy. 


242  THE  PROBLEM   OP  AMERICANIZATION 

We  need  young  men,  defenders  of  democracy,  to  guard 
the  ark  and  see  that  nothing  except  whole  wheat  is  put 
into  it.  Some  naturalized  men  sell  their  acquired  right 
for  a  mess  of  pottage ;  we  need  keen  eyes  and  sharp 
blades  to  discern  and  smite  these  corrupters  and  divest 
them  of  the  robe  they  dishonor.  Other  naturalized  citi- 
zens care  not  what  becomes  of  the  "  ark  of  the  cove- 
nant," pay  no  attention  to  the  character  of  the  men  serving 
at  the  polls,  and  never  investigate  the  quality  of  men 
who  seek  public  office.  These  men  enjoy  all  the  rights 
and  privileges  of  citizenship,  and  assume  none  of  its 
obligations. 

In  some  cities  the  returning  soldiers  are  organized  for 
service  in  the  towns  in  which  they  live.  "  Over  there  " 
they  served  their  country  and  the  world,  here  they  are 
asked  to  serve  their  town.  The  men  fought  with  men 
of  many  tongues  in  the  World  War,  and  democracy  was 
saved.  What  a  splendid  thing  it  would  be  if  they  made 
friends  of  the  foreign-speaking  of  their  town,  informed 
them  what  the  power  of  the  ballot  is,  and  showed  them  how 
the  present  and  future  condition  of  the  town  depends 
upon  the  purity  of  the  vote.  Millions  of  men  were  will- 
ing to  die  for  democracy ;  if  one  million  is  willing  to  live 
for  it,  we  need  have  no  fear  of  the  foreign-born.  A 
million  men  and  women,  resolved  to  live  for  democracy, 
and  to  see  that  the  foreigners  get  accurate  knowledge  of 
how  to  use  their  sovereign  power  aright,  would  be  the  best 
interpretation  of  the  American  spirit.  If  this  effort  be 
made  by  service  men,  the  foreign-born  will  help  to  keep 


THE  GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  243 

the  vote  pure,  the  legislative  chamber  clean,  and  the 
officials  honest  and  conscientious. 

The  foreign-born  will  not  rise  to  the  status  of  the 
ideal  citizen  if  the  courts  of  the  land  are  not  above  sus- 
picion. We  are  proud  of  the  records  of  eminent  jurists  who 
have  given  tone,  character,  and  dignity  to  these  courts. 
Few  cases,  in  the  hundred  and  forty  years  of  our  history, 
are  found  beclouded  with  suspicion  or  besmirched  by 
partisanship.  The  character  of  the  higher  courts  has 
been  on  the  whole  above  reproach.  The.  quality  of 
men  to-day  dispensing  justice  in  the  nation  is  equal  to 
that  of  any  period.  Popular  clamor,  however,  invades 
this  department  of  public  service  and  seeks  control. 
Montesquieu  said :  "  The  people,  not  able  to  tolerate 
the  authority  which  it  has  created,  wishes  to  do  everything 
itself,  to  deliberate  for  the  Senate,  to  act  for  the  magistrate, 
and  to  usurp  the  functions  of  the  judge."  This  seems  to  be 
the  trend  to-day  in  the  United  States.  The  mob  clamors 
for  power,  and  the  courts  do  not  escape  their  criticism  nor 
the  judges  their  censure.  Every  patriot  must  oppose  this 
tendency  if  the  judges  of  the  land  are  to  be  kept  above 
party  strife  and  economic  anxiety.  The  foreign-born 
understand  the  seriousness  of  this  question  and  their  help 
should  be  sought  in  preserving  the  dignity  and  purity  of 
the  courts  of  the  land. 

The  American  nation  will  be  just  as  good  as  its  citi- 
zens make  it.  We,  the  citizens  of  to-day,  can  make  or 
break  this  democracy.  The  past  is  well  worth  our  ad- 
miration, and  we  all  should  be  anxious  to  maintain  the 


244  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

standards  of  the  past  and  on  them  build  the  ideal  democ- 
racy of  the  future.  The  ideals  of  the  fathers  are  far  from 
facts  in  this  twentieth  century.  To-day  we  are  wrestling 
with  imperfections  and  shortcomings.  We  are  slow  in 
adapting  ourselves  to  new  conditions.  The  disturbing 
factors  in  society  rise  as  so  many  hydra  heads  disturb- 
ing the  peace  of  all  and  threatening  to  overthrow  the 
industrial  and  social  order.  We  cannot  pray  for  the 
strong  man  —  Hercules  —  to  come  and  give  us  relief, 
for  that  is  Nietzscheism.  We  have  the  remedy  in  our  own 
hands ;  if  we  cannot  adapt  ourselves  there  is  only  one 
outcome  —  barbarism.  Old  solutions  will  not  answer. 
New  problems  rise  of  which  the  fathers  never  dreamed, 
and  they  demand  new  solutions.  It  means  new  adapta- 
tion. If  the  problem  of  Americanization  is  to  be  solved, 
it  must  be  at  some  sacrifice  and  expense.  It  is  worth 
the  effort,  for  in  it  are  involved  fundamental  principles 
of  democracy. 

Never  before  in  the  history  of  the  nation  has  race 
prejudice  been  more  virulent  and  aggressive  than  just 
now ;  never  have  the  rights  of  the  foreign-born  been 
more  bitterly  attacked  in  and  out  of  the  industries ; 
never  have  the  inconsistencies  between  democratic  faith 
and  practice  been  more  pronounced.  The  foreign-born 
feel  it  and  thousands  of  them  have  felt  sore  at  heart 
because  of  the  wrongs  to  which  they  are  subjected.  We 
rejoice  in  the  fruits  of  peace,  but  peace  brought  greater 
hardship  to  thousands  of  foreigners.  Few  of  these  com- 
plaints have  reached  the  ears  of  American  patriots,  for 


THE   GOAL  IN  AMERICANIZATION  245 

the  foreigners  have  no  medium  of  expression  which  can 
be  heard  in  state  or  national  legislatures.  While  nurs- 
ing their  wrongs,  the  radicals  have  come  to  fan  their 
anger.  Foreigners  easily  misunderstand  and  misinter- 
pret America,  and  these  false  notions  are  carried  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  America  is  not  understood  in  any 
land.  Foreigners  say  it  is  the  land  of  contradictions. 
Redemption  must  come  through  the  service  rendered  by 
Americanization  committees  and  directors.  These  men 
above  all  else  are  charged  with  the  duty  of  rightly  show- 
ing the  foreign-born  the  soul  of  America,  which  is  the  soul 
of  democracy.  America  stands  for  "  peace  on  earth, 
good  will  among  men."  If  this  is  taught  sedulously  in 
industries  and  in  municipalities,  in  trade  and  commerce, 
in  social  and  political  life,  the  foreign-born  will  under- 
stand and  appreciate  our  institutions. 

From  all  the  countries  of  Europe  have  come  to  us  a 
mighty  host,  who  this  day  are  scattered  far  and  wide  in 
the  Republic.  These  men  have  served  well  in  American 
industries,  they  have  built  homes  and  churches,  they 
have  their  press  and  their  literature,  and  have  tasted 
the  joys  of  a  well-regulated  government  and  the  bless- 
ings of  freedom.  Some  of  them  have  come  from  lands 
red  with  the  blood  of  their  fathers  who,  while  resisting 
tyranny  and  despotism,  paid  a  price  the  world  has  never 
been  able  to  compute.  They  have  in  their  blood  a  dread 
of  tyranny  and  a  trembling  in  the  presence  of  authority. 
They  know  the  value  of  peace  and  good  will,  for  they  long 
lived  under  conditions  directly  the  opposite.  Many  of 


246  THE  PROBLEM   OF  AMERICANIZATION 

these  men  are  in  positions  of  trust  and  honor  in  com- 
merce, finance,  and  industry ;  many  of  them  occupy 
seats  of  learning  in  colleges  and  universities ;  and  the 
one  thing  America  asks  of  them  is  that  they,  with  the 
native-born,  work  for  the  better  and  nobler  nation  of  to- 
morrow. 

REFERENCES 

SOCIAL  CONTROL  :  E.  A.  Ross. 

SOCIAL  REFORM  AND  THE  CONSTITUTION  :  F.  J.  Goodnow. 

ANCIENT  ROME  AND  MODERN  AMERICA  :  G.  Ferrero,  Chapters 

IV  and  V. 
THE  THEORY  OF  BUSINESS  ENTERPRISE:  Thorstein  Veblen, 

Chapter  IX. 

LATTER  DAY  PROBLEMS  :  J.  L.  Laughlin,  Chapter  V. 
THE  INFLUENCE  OF  WEALTH  IN  IMPERIAL  ROME  :  W.  S.  Davis, 

Chapter  VIII. 
AMERICANISM,  WHAT  is  IT?  David  Jayne  Hill,  Chapters  IV, 

VI,  and  VII. 
THE  RELIGION  WORTH  WHILE  :  Thos.  N.  Carver. 


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